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AUTHOR 


LA  METTRIE ,  JULIEN 
OFFRAY  DE 


TITLE: 


MAN  A  MACHINE  .   . 


PLACE: 


CHICAGO 


DATE: 


1912 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 


Master  Negative  # 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARCFT 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


t  Philosophy 
|.  D194L18 


L'hornr.c-rrachine.     Eng. 


La  Mettrie,  Julien  Oflfray  de,  1709-1751. 

Man  a  inaclnnc,  by  .hilien  OJrniy  do  La  MclLrie.  Frencli- 
Kn^riish.  Including  Fitideiick  tlie  Great's  "Eulogy"  on  La 
]!kIettrio  and  extracts  from  La  Mettrie's  "The  natural  history 
of  the  soul";  pliilosoi)hical  and  historical  notes  by  Gertrude 
Carman  Busscy  ...  Chicnfro,  Tlie  Open  court  pubhshinir  co., 
1912. 

5  p.  I..  i3|,  210  p.'incl.  facslm.    front,  (port.)    22J  cm. 

"The  KrcMicli  frxt  prosentod  In  tills  vohiiuo  Is  tnkc?n  from  timt  of  a 
Lpyden  eiiltlon  of  1748  ...  The  title  pn^e  of  this  edltiim  Is  reproduced 
in  the  piestMit  volunio." — Pref. 


(Continued  on  next  curd) 


|54olj 


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HLMEDBY:    RESEARCI^I  PUBLICATIONS.  INC  WOODDRIDGE.  CT  ""' 


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L'hoifune-machinG,     Eng, 


Philosophy 

D194L18 

T 

La  Mettrie,  Jullen  Offray  de,  1709-1751.    Man  a  machine  ... 

1912.     (Card  2) 

The  translation  is  founded  on  a  version  made  by  Miss  Gertrude  C. 
Bussey  (from  the  French  text  In  the  edition  of  J.  Assezat)  and  has 
been  revised  by  Professor  M.  W.  Calkins,  who  is  responsible  for  it  in 
its  present  form.    cf.  Pref. 

"Works  consulted  and  cited  In  the  notes" :  p.  i205i-207. 


1   Pliyslology— Early  works  to  1800.    2.  Materialism.    3.  Mind  and 
boilp.        I.  Bussey,  Gertrude  Carman,  ffeS-  vl  CalTcins,  Mary 

Writon,  1SG3-1930,  tr.    in.  Frledrlch  ii,  der  GrosseTlclng  of  Prussia, 
1712  1786.     IV.  Title. 


13—4432 


Liorary  of  Congress 

Kestrictions  on  Use: 


B20<h3.H53C3       ^  ^      , 
c50nlj 


' 


L*horrime  machine.     Eng.t; 


r.a  Vettrie,    Jnlien  Offray  de,  1709-1751.     tlan 
a  manhin'^    ...  1912,      (Card  3) 

D194L18       Cory  in  %rnard.     1943. 
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FILMED  BY:    RESEARCHTUBLlCATIONS.  INC  WOODBRIDGE.  cf 


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D 


Association  for  information  and  Image  Management 

1100  Wayne  Avenue,  Suite  1100 
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THE  LIBRARIES 


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1 1 1 


MAN  A  MACHINE 


BY 


JULIEN  OFFRAY  DE  LA  METTRIE 


rRENCH-BNGLISH 


INCLUDING  FREDERICK  THE  GREATS 
"EULOGY"  ON  LA  METTRIE  AND  EX- 
TRACTS  FROM  LA  METTRIE'S  "THE 
NATURAL    HISTORY    OF   THE    SOUL" 


PHILOSOPHICAL  AND  HISTORICAL  NOTES 


BT 


GERTRUDE  CARMAN  BUSSEY 

M.  A.,  WBLLS8LBT  COI.LBGB 


JULIEN  OFFRAY  DE  LA  METTRIE 
(1709-1751) 


CHICAGO 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  CO. 

1912 


'    f 


t  ' 


■  «* 


"•^kW6- 


MAN  A  MACHINE 


BT 


JULIEN  OFFRAY  DE  LA  METTRIE 


FRENCH-ENGLISH 


INCLUDING  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT'S 
"EULOGY"  ON  LA  METTRIE  AND  EX- 
TRACTS  FROM  LA  METTRIE'S  '*THE 
NATURAL    HISTORY    OF    THE    SOUL" 


PHILOSOPHICAL  AND  HISTORICAL  NOTES 


BY 


GERTRUDE  CARMAN  BUSSEY 

M.  A.,  WSLLI8LBT  COLLEGE 


JULIEN  OFFRAY  DE  LA  METTRIE 
(1709-1751) 


CHICAGO 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  CO. 

1912 


i 


\ 


COmUGRTBT 
THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBUSHING  Ca 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

Preface v 

Frederic  the   Great's   Eulogy  on  Julien   Offray   De  La 
Mettrie i 

UHomme  Machine .     .    ii 

Man  a  Machine 83 

The  Natural  History  of  the  Soul :  Extracts 151 

Appendix 163 

La  Mettrie's  Relation  to  His  Predecessors  and  to  His 

Successors 165 

Outline  of  La  Mettrie's  Metaphysical  Doctrine  .     .     .175 

Notes 176 

Works  Consulted  and  Cited  in  the  Notes  ....        205 

Index 209 


.J 


v 


\ 


1 


J 


-am 


\ 


/ 


1  I' 


PREFACE. 

THE  French  text  presented  in  this  volume  is  taken  from 
that  of  a  Leyden  edition  of  I748»  in  other  words,  from  that 
of  an  edition  pubHshed  in  the  year  and  in  the  place  of  issue 
of  the  first  edition.  The  title  page  of  this  edition  is  reproduced 
in  the  present  volume.  The  original  was  evidently  the  work  of 
a  Dutch  compositor  unschooled  in  the  French  language,  and 
is  full  of  imperfections,  inconsistencies,  and  grammatical  blun- 
ders. By  the  direction  of  the  publishers  these  obviously  typo- 
graphical blunders  have  been  corrected  by  M.  Lucien  Arreat 

of  Paris. 

The  translation  is  the  work  of  several  hands.  It  is  founded 
on  a  version  made  by  Miss  Gertrude  C.  Bussey  (from  the 
French  text  in  the  edition  of  J.  Assezat)  and  has  been  revised 
by  Professor  M.  W.  Calkins  who  is  responsible  for  it  in  its 
present  form.  Mademoiselle  M.  Carret,  of  the  Wellesley  Col- 
lege department  of  French,  and  Professor  George  Santayana,  of 
Harvard  University,  have  given  valued  assistance;  and  this 
opportunity  is  taken  to  acknowledge  their  kindness  in  solving 
the  problems  of  interpretation  which  have  been  submitted  to 
them.  It  should  be  added  that  the  translation  sometimes  sub- 
ordinates the  claims  of  English  structure  and  style  in  the  effort 
to  render  La  Mettrie's  meaning  exactly.  The  paragraphing  of 
the  French  is  usually  followed,  but  the  italics  and  the  capitals 
are  not  reproduced.  The  page-headings  of  the  translation  re- 
fer back  to  the  pages  of  the  French  text;  and  a  few  words  in- 
serted by  the  translators  are  enclosed  in  brackets. 

The  philosophical  and  historical  Notes  are  condensed  and 
adapted  from  a  master's  thesis  on  La  Mettrie  presented  by 
Miss  Bussey  to  the  faculty  of  Wellesley  College. 


) 


t     tl 


1 


FREDERIC  THE  GREAT'S  EULOGY  ON 
JULIEN  OFFRAY  DE  LA  METTRIE. 


'  ^'       *■ 


t- 
u 


FREDERIC  THE  GREAT'S  EULOGY  ON 
JULIEN  OFFRAY  DE  LA  METTRIE. 

JULIEN  Offray  de  la  Mettrie  was  born  in  Saint 
Malo,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  December,  1709,  to 
Julien  Offray  de  la  Mettrie  and  Marie  Gaudron, 
who  were  living  by  a  trade  large  enough  to  provide 
a  good  education  for  their  son.  They  sent  him  to 
the  college  of  Coutance  to  study  the  humanities ;  he 
went  from  there  to  Paris,  to  the  college  of  Plessis ; 
he  studied  his  rhetoric  at  Caen,  and  since  he  had 
much  genius  and  imagination,  he  won  all  the  prizes 
for  eloquence.  He  was  a  born  orator,  and  was  pas- 
sionately fond  of  poetry  and  belles-lettres,  but  his 
father  thought  that  he  would  earn  more  as  an  ec- 
clesiastic than  as  a  poet,  and  destined  him  for  the 
church.  He  sent  him,  the  following  year,  to  the 
college  of  Plessis  where  he  studied  logic  under  M. 
Cordier,  who  was  more  a  Jansenist  than  a  logician. 
It  is  characteristic  of  an  ardent  imagination  to 
seize  forcefully  the  objects  presented  to  it,  as  it  is 
characteristic  of  youth  to  be  prejudiced  in  favor  of 
the  first  opinions  that  are  inculcated.  Any  other 
scholar  would  have  adopted  the  opinions  of  his 
teacher  but  that  was  not  enough  for  young  La 
Mettrie;  he  became  a  Jansenist,  and  wrote  a  work 
which  had  great  vogue  in  that  party. 


/ 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


In  1725,  he  studied  natural  philosophy  at  the 
college  of  Harcourt,  and  made  great  progress  there. 
On  his  return  to  Brittany,  M.  Hunault,  a  doctor  of 
Saint  Malo,  had  advised  him  to  adopt  the  medical 
profession.  They  had  persuaded  his  father,  assuring 
him  that  a  mediocre  physician  would  be  better  paid 
for  his  remedies  than  a  good  priest  for  absolutions. 
At  first  young  La  Mettrie  had  applied  himself  to 
the  study  of  anatomy :  for  two  years  he  had  worked 
at  the  dissecting-table.  After  this,  in  1725,  he  took 
the  degree  of  doctor  at  Rheims,  and  was  there  re- 
ceived as  a  physician. 

In  1733,  he  went  to  Leyden  to  study  under  the  fa- 
mous Boerhaave.  The  master  was  worthy  of  the 
scholar  and  the  scholar  soon  made  himself  worthy 
of  the  master.  M.  La  Mettrie  devoted  all  the  acute- 
ness  of  his  mind  to  the  knowledge  and  to  the  heal- 
ing of  human  infirmities;  and  he  soon  became  a 
great  physician. 

In  the  year  1734,  during  his  leisure  moments,  he 
translated  a  treatise  of  the  late  M.  Boerhaave,  his 
Aphrodisiacus,  and  joined  to  it  a  dissertation  on 
venereal  maladies,  of  which  he  himself  was  the 
author.  The  old  physicians  in  France  rose  up 
against  a  scholar  who  affronted  them  by  knowing 
as  much  as  they.  One  of  the  most  celebrated  doc- 
tors of  Paris  did  him  the  honor  of  criticizing  his 
work  (a  sure  proof  that  it  was  good).  La  Mettrie 
replied;  and,  to  confound  his  adversary  still  more, 
he  composed  in  1736  a  treatise  on  vertigo,  esteemed 
by  all  impartial  physicians. 

By  an  unfortunate  effect  of  human  imperfection 
a  certain  base  jealousy  has  come  to  be  one  of  the 
characteristics  of  men  of  letters.  This  feeling  incites 


>j|^ 


FREDERIC  THE  CREATES  EULOGY.        5 

those  who  have  reputations,  to  oppose  the  progress 
of  budding  geniuses.  This  blight  often  fastens  on 
talents  without  destroying  them,  but  it  sometimes 
injures  them.  M.  La  Mettrie,  who  was  advancing 
in  the  career  of  science  at  a  giant's  pace,  suffered 
from  this  jealousy,  and  his  quick  temper  made  him 
too  susceptible  to  it. 

In  Saint  Malo,  he  translated  the  "Aphorisms"  of 
Boerhaave,  the  "Materia  Medica,"  the  "Chemical 
Proceedings,"  the  "Chemical  Theory,"  and  the  "In- 
stitutions," by  this  same  author.     About  the  same 
time,  he  published  an  abstract  of  Sydenham.  ^  The 
young  doctor  had  learned  by  premature  experience, 
that  if  he  wished  to  live  in  peace,  it  was  better  to 
translate  than  to  compose;  but  it  is  characteristic 
of  genius  to  escape  from  reflection.     Counting  on 
himself  alone,  if  I  may  speak  thus,  and  filled  with 
the  knowledge  he  had  gained  from  his  infinitely  skil- 
ful researches  into  nature,  he  wished  to  communicate 
to  the  public  the  useful  discoveries  he  had  made.  He 
published  his  treatise  on  smallpox,  his  "Practical 
Medicine,"  and  six  volumes  of  commentary  on  the 
physiology  of  Boerhaave.    All  these  works  appeared 
at  Paris,  although  the  author  had  written  them  at 
Saint  Malo.    He  joined  to  the  theory  of  his  art  an 
always  successful  practice,  which  is  no  small  recom- 
mendation for  a  physician. 

In  1 742,  La  Mettrie  came  to  Paris,  led  there  by 
the  death  of  M.  Hunault,  his  old  teacher.  Morand 
and  Sidobre  introduced  him  to  the  Duke  of  Gra- 
mont,  who,  a  few  days  after,  obtained  for  him  the 
commission  of  physician  of  the  guards.  He  accom- 
panied the  Duke  to  war,  and  was  with  him  at  the 
battle  of  Dettingen,  at  the  siege  of  Freiburg,  and  at 


/ 


K'i  f 


O  MAN  A  MACHINE. 

the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  where  he  lost  his  patron, 
who  was  killed  by  a  cannon  shot. 

La  Mettrie  felt  this  loss  all  the  more  keenly,  be- 
cause it  was  at  the  same  time  the  reef  on  which 
his  fortune  was  wrecked.  This  is  what  happened. 
During  the  campaign  of  Freiburg,  La  Mettrie  had 
an  attack  of  violent  fever.  Q^r  a  philosopher  an 
illness  is  a  school  of  physiology;  he  believed  that 
he  could  clearly  see  that  thought  is  but  a  conse- 
quence  of  the  organization  of  the  machine,  and  that 
the  disturbance  oi  tne  springs  has  considerable  in- 
fluence on  that  part  of  us  which  the  metaphysicians 
call  soul.  Filled  with  these  ideas  during  his  con- 
valescence, he  boldly  bore  the  torch  of  experience 
into  the  night  of  metaphysics ;  he  tried  to  explain 

/by  the  aid  of  anatomy  the  thin  texture  of  under- 
standing, and  he  found  only  mechanism  where 
others  had  supposed  an  essence  superior  to  matter. 
He  had  his  philosophic  conjectures  printed  under  the 
*5tle  of  **Ihe  Natural  History  of  the  Soul.^'  The 
chaplain  of  the  regiment  Sounded  the  toc"sin  against 
him,  and  at  first  sight  all  the  devotees  cried  out 
against  him. 

The  common  ecclesiastic  is  like  Don  Quixote, 
who  found  marvelous  adventures  in  commonplace 
events,  or  like  the  famous  soldier,  so  engrossed 
with  his  system  that  he  found  columns  in  all  the 
books  he  read.  The  majority  of  priests  examine 
all  works  of  literature  as  if  they  were  treatises  on 
theology,  and  filled  with  this  one  aim,  they  discover 
heresies  everywhere.  To  this  fact  are  due  very 
many  false  judgments  and  very  many  accusations, 
for  the  most  part  unfair,  against  the  authors.  A 
book  of  physics  should  be  read  in  the  spirit  of  a 


FREDERIC  THE  GREAT  S  EULOGY.  7 

physicist;  nature,  the  truth,  is  its  sole  judge,  and 
should  absolve  or  condemn  it.  A  book  of  astron- 
omy should  be  read  in  the  same  manner.  If  a 
poor  physician  proves  that  the  blow  of  a  stick 
smartly  rapped  on  the  skull  disturbs  the  mind,  or 
that  at  a  certain  degree  of  heat  reason  wanders, 
one  must  either  prove  the  contrary  or  keep  quiet. 
If  a  skilful  astronomer  proves,  in  spite  of  Joshua, 
that  the  earth  and  all  the  celestial  globes  revolve 
around  the  sun,  one  must  either  calculate  better 
than  he,  or  admit  that  the  earth  revolves. 

But  the  theologians,  who,  by  their  continual  ap- 
prehension, might  make  the  weak  believe  that  their 
cause  is  bad,  are  not  troubled  by  such  a  small  matter. 
They  insisted  on  finding  seeds  of  heresy  in  a  work 
dealing  with  physics.  The  author  underwent  a  fright- 
ful persecution,  and  the  priests  claimed  that  a  doctor 
accused  of  heresy  could  not  cure  the  French  guards. 

To  the  hatred  of  the  devotees  was  joined  that 
of  his  rivals  for  glory.  This  was  rekindled  by  a 
work  of  La  Mettrie*s  entitled  "The  Politics  of 
Physicians."  A  man  full  of  cunning,  and  carried 
away  by  ambition,  aspired  to  the  place,  then  vacant, 
of  first  physician  to  the  king  of  France.  He  thought 
that  he  could  gain  it  by  heaping  ridicule  upon  those 
of  his  contemporaries  who  might  lay  claim  to  this 
position.  He  wrote  a  libel  against  them,  and  abu- 
sing the  easy  friendship  of  La  Mettrie,  he  enticed 
him  to  lend  to  it  the  volubility  of  his  pen,  and  the 
richness  of  his  imagination.  Nothing  more  was 
needed  to  complete  the  downfall  of  a  man  little 
known,  against  whom  were  all  appearances,  and 
whose  only  protection  was  his  merit. 

For  having  been  too  sincere  as  a  philosopher  and 


\\\ 


8 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


too  obliging  as  a  friend,  La  Mettrie  was  compelled 
to  leave  his  country.  The  Duke  of  Duras  and  the 
Viscount  of  Chaila  advised  him  to  flee  from  the 
hatred  of  the  priests  and  the  revenge  of  the  physi- 
cians. Therefore,  in  1746,  he  left  the  hospitals  of 
the  army  where  he  had  been  placed  by  M.  Sechelles, 
and  came  to  Leyden  to  philosophize  in  peace.  He 
there  composed  his  "Penelope,'*  a  polemical  work 
against  the  physicians  in  which,  after  the  fashion 
of  Democritus,  he  made  fun  of  the  vanity  of  his 
profession.  The  curious  result  was  that  the  doctors 
themselves,  though  their  quackery  was  painted  in 
true  colors,  could  not  help  laughing  when  they  read 
it,  and  that  is  a  sure  sign  that  they  had  found  more 
wit  than  malice  in  it. 

M.  La  Mettrie  after  losing  sight  of  his  hospitals 
and  his  patients,  gave  himself  up  completely  to  specu- 
lative philosophy;  he  wrote  his  "Man  a  Machine" 
or  rather  he  put  on  paper  some  vigorous  thoughts 
bout  materialism,  which  he  doubtless  planned  to 
rewrite.  This  work,  which  was  bound  to  displease 
men  who  by  their  position  are  declared  enemies  of 
the  progress  of  human  reason,  roused  all  the  priests 
of  Leyden  against  its  author.  Ca^¥tfMsU,  Catholics 
and  Lutherans  forgot  for  the  time  that  consubstan- 
tiation,  free  will,  mass  for  the  dead,  and  the  infalli- 
bilityLof  the  pope  divided  them :  they  all  united  again 
to  persecute  a  philosopher  who  had  the  additional 
misfortune  of  being  French,  at  a  time  when  that 
monarchy  was  waging  a  successful  war  against  their 
High  Powers. 

The  title  of  philosopher  and  the  reputation  of 
being  unfortunate  were  enough  to  procure  for  La 
Mettrie  a  refuge  in  Prussia  with  a  pension  from 


I 


\     ''I 


FREDERIC  THE  GREAX'S  EULOGY.  9 

the  king.  He  came  to  Berlin  in  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary in  the  year  1748;  he  was  there  received  as  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Science.  Medi- 
cine reclaimed  him  from  metaphysics,  and  he  wrote 
a  treatise  on  dysentery,  another  on  asthma,  the  best 
that  had  then  been  written  on  these  cruel  diseases. 
He  sketched  works  on  certain  philosophical  subjects 
which  he  had  proposed  to  look  into.  By  a  sequence 
of  accidents  which  befell  him  these  works  were 
stolen,  but  he  demanded  their  suppression  as  soon 
as  they  appeared. 

La  Mettrie  died  in  the  house  of  Milord  Tirconnel, 
minister  plenipotentiary  of  France,  whose  life  he 
had  saved.  It  seems  that  the  disease,  knowing  with 
whom  it  had  to  deal,  was  clever  enough  to  attack 
his  brain  first,  so  that  it  would  more  surely  confound 
him.  He  had  a  burning  fever  and  was  violently 
delirious.  The  invalid  was  obliged  to  depend  upon 
the  science  of  his  colleagues,  and  he  did  not  find 
there  the  resources  which  he  had  so  often  found  in 
his  own,  both  for  himself  and  for  the  public. 

He  died  on  the  eleventh  of  November,  1751,  at 
the  age  of  forty-three  years.  He  had  married  Louise 
Charlotte  Dreano,  by  whom  he  left  only  a  daughter, 
five  years  and  a  few  months  old. 

La  Mettrie  was  born  with  a  fund  of  natural  and 
inexhaustible  gaiety ;  he  had  a  quick  mind,  and  such 
a  fertile  imagination  that  it  made  fiowers  grow  in 
the  field  of  medicine.  Nature  had  made  him  an 
orator  and  a  philosopher;  but  a  yet  more  precious 
gift  which  he  received  from  her,  was  a  pure  soul  and 
an  obliging  heart.  All  those  who  are  not  imposed 
upon  by  the  pious  insults  of  the  theologians  mourn 
in  La  Mettrie  a  good  man  and  a  wise  physician. 


m 


\ 


L'  H  0  M  M  E 


MACHINE. 


J^^e  lace  Mm  it  VEjfenafttprhnet. 

Que  Von  nous  feint  fi  lumineuxf 
l^'ce  la  cetEfpritfurvivant  a  nous  mhne^ 
II  natt  avec  nos  fens^  croitt  iaffo'iblit 
comnte  eux> 
Helas!  il  phira  de  mkne. 

VOLTAIRS. 


A  L  £  ro  E, 

Db  t'lMP,  D'ELIE  LUZAC,  Fits. 

MDCCXLVllI. 


Facsimile  of  title  page  of  the  Leyden  1748  editiOD 


/ 


,  "» 


UHOMME  MACHINE. 

IL  ne  suffit  pas  a  un  sage  d'etudier  la  nature  et  la 
verite ;  il  doit  oser  la  dire  en  f  aveur  du  petit  nom- 
bre  de  ceux  qui  veulent  et  peuvent  penser ;  car  pour 
les  autres,  qui  sont  volontairement  esclaves  des  pre- 
juges,  il  ne  leur  est  pas  plus  possible  d'atteindre  la 
verite,  qu'aux  grenouilles  de  voler. 

Je  reduis  a  deux  les  systemes  des  philosophes 
sur  Tame  de  rhomme.  Le  premier,  et  le  plus  an- 
cien,  est  le  systeme  du  materialisme ;  le  second  est 
celui  du  spiritualisme. 

Les  metaphysiciens  qui  ont  insinue  que  la  ma- 
tiere  pourrait  bien  avoir  la  faculte  de  penser,  n'ont 
pas  deshonore  leur  raison.  Pourquoi  ?  C'est  qu'ils 
ont  cet  avantage  (car  ici  e'en  est  un)  de  s'etre  mal 
exprimes.  En  effet,  demander  si  la  matiere  pent 
penser,  sans  la  considerer  autrement  qu'en  elle- 
meme,  c*est  demander  si  la  matiere  peut  marquer 
les  heures.  On  voit  d'avance  que  nous  eviterons 
cet  ecueil,  ou  Mr.  Locke  a  eu  le  malheur  d'echouer. 

Les  Leibniziens,  avec  leurs  monades,  ont  eleve 
une  hypothese  inintelligible.  lis  ont  plutot  spiri- 
tualise la  matiere,  que  materialise  Tame.  Comment 
peut-on  definir  un  etre  dont  la  nature  nous  est  ab- 
solument  inconnue? 

Descartes,  et  tous  les  Cartesiens,  parmi  lesquels 
il  y  a  longtemps  qu'on  a  compte  les  Malebranchistes, 


14 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


ont  fait  la  meme  faute.  lis  ont  admis  deux  sub- 
stances distinctes  dans  rhomme,  comme  s'ils  les 
avaient  vues  et  bien  comptees. 

Les  plus  sages  ont  dit  que  Tame  ne  pouvait  se 
connaitre  que  par  les  seules  lumieres  de  la  Foi: 
cependant,  en  qualite  d'etres  raisonnables,  ils  ont  cru 
pouvoir  se  reserver  le  droit  d'examiner  ce  que  I'Ecri- 
ture  a  voulu  dire  par  le  mot  Esprit,  dont  elle  se  sert 
en  parlant  de  Tame  humaine;  et  dans  leurs  re- 
cherches,  s'ils  ne  sont  pas  d'accord  sur  ce  point  avec 
les  theologiens,  ceux-ci  le  sont-ils  davantage  en- 
tr'eux  sur  tous  les  autres? 

Voici  en  peu  de  mots  le  resultat  de  toutes  leurs 
reflexions. 

S'il  y  a  un  Dieu,  il  est  auteur  de  la  Nature, 
comme  de  la  Revelation;  il  nous  a  donne  Tune, 
pour  expliquer  I'autre ;  et  la  Raison,  pour  les  accor- 
der  ensemble. 

Se  defier  des  connaissances  qu'on  peut  puiser  dans 
les  corps  animes,  c'est  regarder  la  Nature  et  la 
Revelation  comme  deux  contraires  qui  se  detrui- 
sent;  et  par  consequent,  c'est  oser  soutenir  cette  ab- 
surdite:  que  Dieu  se  contredit  dans  ses  divers  ou- 
vrages,  et  nous  trompe.  .^ 

S'il  y  a  une  Revelation,  elle  ne  peut  done  dementir 
la  Nature.  Par  la  Nature  seule,  on  peut  decouvrir 
le  sens  des  paroles  de  TEvangile,  dont  I'experience 
seule  est  la  veritable  interprete.  En  effet,  les  autres 
commentateurs  jusqu'ici  n'ont  fait  qu'embrouiller 
la  verite.  Nous  allons  en  juger  par  I'auteur  du 
Spectacle  de  la  Nature.  "II  est  etonnant,  dit-il  (au 
"sujet  de  Mr.  Locke),  qu'un  homme  qui  degrade 
notre  ame  jusqu'a  la  croire  une  ame  de  boue,  ose 
etablir  la  Raison  pour  juge  et  souverain  arbitre 


it 


tijii 


\ 


L^HOMME  MACHINE. 


15 


"des  mysteres  de  la  Foi ;  car,  ajoute-t-il,  quelle  idee 
"etonnante  aurait-on  du  Christianisme,  si  Ton  vou- 
"lait  suivre  la  Raison?" 

Outre  que  ces  reflexions  n*eclaircissent  rien  par 
rapport  a  la  Foi,  elles  forment  de  si  frivoles  ob- 
jections contre  la  methode  de  ceux  qui  croient  pou- 
voir interpreter  les  Livres  Saints,  que  j'ai  presque 
honte  de  perdre  le  temps  a  les  refuter. 

lo.  L'excellence  de  la  Raison  ne  depend  pas  d*an 
grand  mot  vide  de  sens  (I'immaterialite)  ;  mais  de 
sa  force,  de  son  etendue,  ou  de  sa  clairvoyance. 
Ainsi  une  ame  de  bone,  qui  decouvrirait,  comme 
d'un  coup  d'ceil,  les  rapports  et  les  suites  d'une  in- 
finite d'idees  difficiles  a  saisir,  serait  evidemment 
preferable  a  une  ame  sotte  et  stupide  qui  serait 
faite  des  elements  les  plus  precieux.  Ce  n'est  pas 
etre  philosophe,  que  de  rougir  avec  Pline  de  la 
misere  de  notre  origine.  Ce  qui  parait  vil,  est  ici  la 
chose  la  plus  precieuse,  et  pour  laquelle  la  nature 
semble  avoir  mis  le  plus  d'art  et  le  plus  d'appareil. 
Mais  comme  Thomme,  quand  meme  il  viendrait 
d'une  source  encore  plus  vile  en  apparence,  n'en  - 
serait  pas  moins  le  plus  parfait  de  tous  les  etres, 
quelle  que  soit  Torigine  de  son  ame,  si  elle  est  pure, 
noble,  sublime,  c'est  une  belle  ame,  qui  rend  respec- 
table quiconque  en  est  doue. 

La  seconde  maniere  de  raisonner  de  Mr.  Pluche 
me  parait  vicieuse,  meme  dans  son  systeme,  qui  tient 
un  peu  du  fanatisme;  car  si  nous  avons  une  idee 
de  la  Foi,  qui  soit  contraire  aux  principes  les  plus 
clairs,  aux  verites  les  plus  incontestables,  il  faut 
croire,  pour  I'honneur  de  la  Revelation  et  de  son 
Auteur,  que  cette  idee  est  fausse,  et  que  nous  ne 


V 


16 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


connaissons  point  encore  les  sens  des  paroles  de 
TEvangile. 

De  deux  choses  Tune;  ou  tout  est  illusion,  tant 
la  Nature  meme,  que  la  Revelation ;  ou  Texperience 
seule  pent  rendre  raison  de  la  Foi.  Mais  quel  plus 
grand  ridicule  que  celui  de  notre  auteur  ?  Je  m*ima- 
gine  entendre  un  peripateticien,  qui  dirait :  "II  ne  faut 
"pas  croire  Texperience  de  Toricelli:  car  si  nous  la 
"croyions,  si  nous  allions  bannir  Thorreur  du  vide, 
"quelle  etonnante  philosophic  aurions-nous  ?" 

J'ai  fait  voir  combien  le  raisonnement  de  Mr. 
Pluche  est  vicieux,*  afin  de  prouver  premierement 
que  s*il  y  a  une  Revelation,  elle  n'est  point  suffi- 
samment  demontree  par  la  seule  autorite  de  TEglise 
et  sans  aucun  examen  de  la  Raison,  comme  le  pre- 
tendent  tons  ceux  qui  la  craignent.  Secondement, 
pour  mettre  a  Tabri  de  toute  attaque  la  methode 
de  ceux  qui  voudraient  suivre  la  voie  que  je  leur 
ouvre,  d'interpreter  les  choses  surnaturelles,  incom- 
prehensibles  en  soi»  par  les  lumieres  que  chacun  a 
recues  de  la  nature.J 


L'experience  et  {'observation  doivent  done  seules 
nous  guider  ici.  Elles  se  trouvent  sans  nombre  dans 
les  Pastes  des  medecins,  qui  ont  ete  philosophes,  et 
non  dans  les  philosophes,  qui  n'ont  pas  ete  mede- 
cins. *  Ceux-ci  ont  parcouru,  ont  eclaire  le  laby- 
rinthe  de  Thomme;  ils  nous  ont  seuls  devoile  ces 
ressorts  caches  sous  des  enveloppes  qui  derobent  a 
nos  yeux  tant  de  merveilles.  Eux  seuls,  contemplant 
tranquillement  notre  ame,  I'ont  mille  fois  surprise, 
et  dans  sa  misere,  et  dans  sa  grandeur,  sans  plus  la 
mepriser  dans  Tun  de  ces  etats,  que  Tadmirer  dans 
Tautre.  Encore  une  fois,  voila  les  seuls  physiciens 
*  II  peche  evidemment  par  une  petition  de  principe. 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


17 


qui  aient  droit  de  parler  ici.  Que  nous  diraient  les 
autres,  et  surtout  les  theologiens?  N'est-il  pas 
ridicule  de  les  entendre  decider  sans  pudeur,  sur  un 
sujet  qu'ils  n'ont  point  ete  a  portee  de  connaitre, 
dont  ils  ont  ete  au  contraire  entierement  detournes 
par  des  etudes  obscures,  qui  les  ont  conduits  a 
mille  prejuges,  et  pour  tout  dire  en  un  mot,  au 
fanatisme,  qui  ajoute  encore  a  leur  ignorance  dans 
le  mecanisme  des  corps. 

Mais,  quoique  nous  ayons  choisi  les  meilleurs 
guides,  nous  trouverons  encore  beaucoup  d'epines 
et  d'obstacles  dans  cette  carriere. 

L'homme  est  une  machine  si  composee,  qu'il  est 
impossible  de  s'en  faire  d'abord  une  idee  claire,  et 
consequemment  de  la  definir.  C'est  pourquoi  toutes 
les  recherches  que  les  plus  grands  philosophes  ont 
faites  a  priori,  c'est  a  dire,  en  voulant  se  servir  en 
quelque  sorte  des  ailes  de  I'esprit,  ont  ete  vaines. 
Ainsi  ce  n'est  qu'a  posteriori,  ou  en  cherchant  a 
demeler  Tame  comme  au  t ravers  les  organes  du 
corps,  qu'on  pent,  je  ne  dis  pas  decouvrir  avec  evi- 
dence la  nature  meme  de  Thomme,  mais  atteindre 
le  plus  grand  degre  de  probabilite  possible  sur  ce 
sujet. 

Prenons  done  le  baton  de  Texperience,  et  laissons 
la  Thistoire  de  toutes  les  vaines  opinions  des  philo- 
sophes. Etre  aveugle,  et  croire  pouvoir  se  passer 
de  ce  baton,  c'est  le  comble  de  I'aveuglement.  Qu'un 
moderne  a  bien  raison  de  dire  qu'il  n'y  a  que  la 
vanite  seule  qui  ne  tire  pas  des  causes  secondes  le 
meme  parti  que  des  premieres !  On  peut  et  on  doit 
meme  admirer  tons  ces  beaux  genies  dans  leurs 
travaux  les  plus  inutiles,  les  Descartes,  les  Male- 
branche,  les  Leibnitz,  les  Wolf,  etc. ;  mais  quel  fruit, 


A. 


18 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


je  vous  prie,  a-t-on  retire  de  leurs  profondes  medi- 
tations et  de  tous  leurs  ouvrages?  CommenQons 
done  et  voyons,  non  ce  qu*on  a  pense,  mais  ce  qu'il 
faut  penser  pour  le  repos  de  la  vie. 

Autant  de  temperaments,  autant  d'esprits,  de  ca- 
racteres  et  de  moeurs  differentes.  Galien  meme  a 
connu  cette  verite,  que  Descartes,  et  non  Hippocrate, 
comme  le  dit  Tauteur  de  Thistoire  de  T Ame,^  a  pous- 
see  loin,  jusqu'a  dire  que  la  medecine  seule  pouvait 
changer  les  esprits  et  les  moeurs  avec  le  corps.  ^  II  ' 
est  vrai,  la  melancolie,  la  bile,  le  phlegme,  le  sang 
etc.,  suivant  la  nature,  Tabondance  et  la  diverse  com- 
binaison  de  ces  humeurs,  de  chaque  homme  font  un 
homme  different. 

Dans  les  maladies,  tantot  Tame  s'eclipse  et  ne 
montre  aucun  signe  d*elle-meme;  tantot  on  dirait 
qu'elle  est  double,  tant  la  f ureur  la  transporte ;  tan- 
tot rimbecilite  se  dissipe:  et  la  convalescence  d'un 
sot  fait  un  homme  d'esprit.  Tantot  le  plus  beau 
genie  devenu  stupide,  ne  se  reconnait  plus.  Adieu 
toutes  ces  belles  connaissances  acquises  a  si  grands 
frais,  et  avec  tant  de  peine!  ^ 

Ici  c'est  un  paralytique,  qui  demande  si  sa  jambe 
est  dans  son  lit :  la  c*est  un  soldat  qui  croit  avoir  le 
bras  qu*on  lui  a  coupe.  La  memoire  de  ses  an- 
ciennes  sensations,  et  du  lieu  ou  son  ame  les  rap- 
portait,  fait  son  illusion  et  son  espece  de  delire. 
II  suffit  de  lui  parler  de  cette  partie  qui  lui  manque, 
pour  lui  en  rappeller  et  faire  sentir  tous  les  mouve- 
ments;  ce  qui  se  fait  avec  je  ne  sais  quel  deplaisir 
d'imagination  qu'on  ne  peut  exprimer. 

Celui-ci  pleure,  comme  un  enfant,  aux  approches 
de  la  mort,  que  celui-la  badine.  Que  fallait-il  a 
Caius  Julius,  a   Seneque,  a  Petrone  pour  changer 


L^HOMME  MACHINE. 


19 


leur  intrepidite  en  pusillanimite  ou  en  poltronnerie? 
Une  obstruction  dans  la  rate,  dans  le  foie,  un  em- 
barras  dans  la  veine  porte.  Pourquoi?  Parceque 
r imagination  se  bouche  avec  les  visceres;  et  de  la 
naissent  tous  ces  singuliers  phenomenes  de  I'affec- 
tion  hysterique  et  hypocondriaque. 

Que  dirais-je  de  nouveau  sur  ceux  qui  s'imaginent 
etre  transformes  en  loups-garous,  en  coqs,  en  vam- 
pires, qui  croient  que  les  morts  les  sucent?  Pour- 
quoi m'arreterais-je  a  ceux  qui  voient  leur  nez,  ou 
autres  membres,  de  verre,  et  a  qui  il  faut  conseiller 
de  coucher  sur  la  paille,  de  peur  qu'ils  ne  se  cassent, 
afin  qu'ils  en  retrouvent  Tusage  et  la  veritable  chair, 
lorsque  mettant  le  feu  a  la  paille  on  leur  fait  craindre 
d'etre  brules:  frayeur  qui  a  quelquefois  gueri  la 
paralysie  ?  Je  dois  legerement  passer  sur  des  choses 
connues  de  tout  le  monde.  ■ 

Je  ne  serai  pas  plus  long  sur  le  detail  des  effets 
du  sommeil.  Voyez  ce  soldat  fatigue !  il  ronfle  dans 
la  tranchee,  au  bruit  de  cent  pieces  de  canons !  Son 
ame  n'entend  rien,  son  sommeil  est  une  parfaite 
apoplexie.  Une  bombe  va  I'ecraser ;  il  sentira  peut- 
etre  moins  ce  coup  qu  un  insecte  qui  se  trouve  sous 

le  pied. 

D*un  autre  cote,  cet  homme  que  la  jalousie,  la 
haine,  I'avarice  ou  Tambition  devore,  ne  peut 
trouver  aucun  repos.  Le  lieu  le  plus  tranquille,  les 
boissons  les  plus  fraiches  et  les  plus  calmantes,  tout 
est  inutile  a  qui  n'a  pas  delivre  son  cceur  du  tour- 
ment  des  passions. 

L'ame  et  le  corps  s'endorment  ensemble.  A 
mesure  que  le  mouvement  du  sang  se  calme,  un 
doux  sentiment  de  paix  et  de  tranquillite  se  repand 
dans  toute  la  machine;  Tame  se  sent  moUement 


Li 


\ 


20 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


s'appesantir  avec  les  paupieres  et  s'affaisser  avec  les 
fibres  du  cerveau :  elle  devient  ainsi  peu  a  peu  comme 
paralytique,  avec  tous  les  muscles  du  corps.  Ceux- 
ci  ne  peuvent  plus  porter  le  poids  de  la  tete;  celle 
la  ne  peut  plus  soutenir  le  f ardeau  de  la  pensee ;  elle 
est  dans  le  sommeil,  comme  n'etant  point. 

La  circulation  se  fait-elle  avec  trop  de  Vitesse? 
Tame  ne  peut  dormir.  L'ame  est-elle  trop  agitee, 
le  sang  ne  peut  se  calmer ;  il  galope  dans  les  veines 
avec  un  bruit  qu*on  entend:  telles  sont  les  deux 
causes  reciproques  de  Tinsomnie.  Une  seule  f  rayeur 
dans  les  songes  fait  battre  le  coeur  a  coups  redou- 
bles, et  nous  arrache  a  la  necessite,  ou  a  la  douceur 
du  repos,  comme  feraient  une  vive  douleur  ou  des 
besoins  urgents.  Enfin,  comme  la  seule  cessation 
des  fonctions  de  Tame  procure  le  sommeil,  il  est, 
meme  pendant  la  veille  (qui  n'est  alors  qu'une  demi- 
veille),  des  sortes  de  petits  sommeils  d'ame  tres 
frequents,  des  rives  a  la  Suisse,  qui  prouvent  que 
Tame  n'attend  pas  toujours  le  corps  pour  dormir; 
car  si  elle  ne  dort  pas  tout-a-fait,  combien  peu  s*en 
faut-il!  puisqu'il  lui  est  impossible  d'assigner  un 
seul  objet  auquel  elle  ait  prete  quelque  attention, 
parmi  cette  foule  innombrable  d*idees  confuses,  qui 
comme  autant  de  nuages  remplissent,  pour  ainsi  dire, 
J'atmosphere  de  notre  cerveau. 
^L'opium  a  trop  de  rapport  avec  le  sommeil  qu'il 
t)f:ocure,  pour  ne  pas  le  placer  ici.  Ce  remede  eni- 
vre,  ainsi  que  le  vin,  le  cafe,  et  chacun  a  sa  ma- 
niere,  et  suivant  sa  dose.  II  rend  Thomme  heureux 
dans  un  etat  qui  semblerait  devoir  etre  le  tombeau 
du  sentiment,  comme  il  est  Timage  de  la  mort 
Quelle  douce  lethargic!  L'ame  n'en  voudrait  ja- 
mais sortir.     Elle  etait  en  proie  aux  plus  grandes 


f 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


21 


douleurs;  elle  ne  sent  plus  que  le  seul  plaisir  de  ne 
plus  suffrir  et  de  jouir  de  la  plus  charmante  tran- 
quillite.  L'opium  change  jusqu'a  la  volonte;  il 
force  Tame  qui  voulait  veiller  et  se  divertir,  d'aller 
se  mettre  au  lit  malgre  elle.  Je  passe  sous  silence 
rhistoire  des  poisons. 

C'est  en  fouettant  I'imagination,  que  le  cafe,  cet 
antidote  du  vin,  dissipe  nos  maux  de  tete  et  nos 
chagrins,  sans  nous  en  menager,  comme  cette  li- 
queur, pour  le  lendemain. 

Contemplons  Tame  dans  ses  autres  besoins.  ) 

Le  corps  humain  est  une  machine  qui  monte  elle- 
A/  meme  ses  ressorts;  vivante  image  du  mouvement 
perpetuel.  Les  aliments  entretiennent  ce  que  la  fie- 
vre  excite.  Sans  eux  Tame  languit,  entre  en  fureur 
et  meurt  abattue.  C'est  une  bougie  dont  la  lumiere 
se  ranime,  au  moment  de  s^eteindre.  Mais  nourris- 
sez  le  corps,  versez  dans  ses  tuyaux  des  sues  vigou- 
reux,  des  liqueurs  fortes;  alors  Tame  genereuse 
comme  elles  s'arme  d'un  fier  courage  et  le  soldat 
que  Teau  eut  fait  fuir,  devenu  feroce,  court  gaie- 
ment  a  la  mort  au  bruit  des  tambours.  C'est  ainsi 
que  Teau  chaude  agite  un  sang  que  Teau  froide  eut 
calme. 

Quelle  puissance  d'un  repas!  La  joie  renait 
dans  un  cceur  triste;  elle  passe  dans  Tame  des 
convives  qui  Texpriment  par  d'aimables  chansons, 
ou  les  Frangais  excellent.  Le  melancolique  seul  est 
accable,  et  Thomme  d'etude  n'y  est  plus  propre. 

La  viande  crue  rend  les  animaux  feroces;  les 
hbmmes  le  deviendraient  par  la  meme  nourriture; 
cela  esb^  vrai,  que  la  nation  anglaise,  qui  ne  mange 
pas  la  chMr  si  cuite  que  nous,  mais  rouge  et  san- 
glante,  parait  participer  de  cette  ferocite  plus  ou 


22 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


moins  grande,  qui  vient  en  partie  de  tels  aliments, 
et  d'autres  causes,  que  Teducation  pent  seule  rendre 
impuissantes.  Cette  ferocite  produit  dans  Tame  Tor- 
gueil,  la  haine,  le  mepris  des  autres  nations,  Tin- 
docilite  et  autres  sentiments,  qui  depravent  le  carac- 
tere,  comme  des  aliments  grossiers  font  un  esprit 
lourd,  epais,  dont  la  paresse  et  I'indolence  sont  les 
attributs  favoris. 

Mr.  Pope  a  bien  connu  tout  Tempire  de  la  gour- 
mandise,  lorsqu'il  dit :  "Le  grave  Catius  park  tou- 
"jours  de  vertu,  et  croit  que,  qui  souff re  les  vicieux 
"est  vicieux  lui-meme.  Ces  beaux  sentiments  durent 
"jusqu'a  I'heure  du  diner ;  alors  il  pref ere  un  scele- 
"rat,  qui  a  une  table  delicate,  a  un  saint  frugal. 

"Considerez,  dit-il  ailleurs,  le  meme  homme  en 
"sante,  ou  en  maladie;  possedant  une  belle  charge, 
on  Tayant  perdue ;  vous  le  verrez  cherir  la  vie,  ou 
la  detester,  fou  a  la  chasse,  ivrogne  dans  une  as- 
semblee  de  province,  poli  au  bal,  bon  ami  en  ville, 
"sans  foi  a  la  cour."  ' 

Nous  avons  eu  en  Suisse  un  bailli,  nomme  Stei- 
guer  de  Wittighofen;  il  etait  a  jeun  le  plus  in- 
tegre  et  meme  le  plus  indulgent  des  juges;  mais 
malheur  au  miserable  qui  se  trouvait  sur  la  sellette, 
lorsquMl  avait  fait  un  grand  diner !  II  etait  homme 
a  faire  pendre  Tinnocent,  comme  le  coupable. 

Nous  pensons,  et  meme  nous  ne  sommes  hon- 
netes  gens,  que  comme  nous  sommes  gais,  ou  braves ; 
tout  depend  de  la  maniere  dont  notre  machine  est 
montee.  On  dirait  en  certains  moments  que  Tame 
habite  dans  Testomac,  et  que  Van  Helmont,  en  met- 
tant  son  siege  dans  le  pylore,  ne  se  serait  trompe 
qu'en  prenant  la  partie  pour  le  tout. 

A  quels  exces  la  faim  cruelle  pent  nous  porter! 


t( 


ti 


i€ 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


23 


Plus  de  respect  pour  les  entrailles  auxquelles  on 
doit  ou  on  a  donne  la  vie;  on  les  dechire  a  belles 
dents,  on  s'en  fait  d'horribles  festins;  et  dans  la 
fureur  dont  on  est  transporte,  le  plus  faible  est 
toujours  la  proie  du  plus  fort. 

La  grossesse,  cette  emule  desiree  des  pales  cou- 
leurs,  ne  se  contente  pas  d'amener  le  plus  souvent 
a  sa  suite  les  gouts  depraves  qui  accompagnent  ces 
deux  etats :  elle  a  quelquefois  fait  executer  a  Tame 
les  plus  aff reux  complots ;  eff ets  d'une  manie  subite, 
qui  etouffe  jusqu'a  la  loi  naturelle.  C*est  ainsi  que 
le  cerveau,  cette  matrice  de  Tesprit,  se  pervertit  a 
sa  maniere,  avec  celle  du  corps. 

Quelle  autre  fureur  d'homme  ou  de  femme,  dans 
ceux  que  la  continence  et  la  sante  poursuivent !  C^est 
peu  pour  cette  fille  timide  et  modeste  d'avoir  perdu 
toute  honte  et  toute  pudeur;  elle  ne  regarde  plus 
rinceste,  que  comme  une  femme  galante  regarde 
Tadultere.  Si  ses  besoins  ne  trouvent  pas  de  prompts 
soulagements,  ils  ne  se  borneront  point  aux  simples 
accidents  d'une  passion  uterine,  a  la  manie,  etc. ;  cette 
malheureuse  mourra  d'un  mal,  dont  il  y  a  tant  de 
medecins. 

II  ne  faut  que  des  yeux  pour  voir  Tinfluence  ne- 
cessaire  de  I'age  sur  la  raison.  L'ame  suit  les 
progres  du  corps,  comme  ceux  de  Teducation.  Dans 
le  beau  sexe,  l'ame  suit  encore  la  delicatesse  du 
temperament:  de  la  cette  tendresse,  cette  affection, 
ces  sentiments  vifs,  plutot  fondes  sur  la  passion  que 
sur  la  raison,  ces  prejuges,  ces  superstitions,  dont 
la  forte  empreinte  pent  a  peine  s'effacer,  etc. 
L'homme,  au  contraire,  dont  le  cerveau  et  les  nerfs 
participent  de  la  fermete  de  tons  les  solides,  a 
Tesprit,  ainsi  que  les  traits  du  visage,  plus  nerveux ; 


I    k 


24 


L^HOMME  MACHINE. 


25 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


reducation,  dont  manquent  les  femmes,  ajoute  en- 
core de  nouveaux  degres  de  force  a  son  ame.  Avec 
de  tels  secours  de  la  nature  et  de  Tart,  comment  ne 
serait-il  pas  plus  reconnaissant,  plus  genereux,  plus 
constant  en  amitie,  plus  ferme  dans  Tadversite?  etc. 
Mais,  suivant  a  peu  pres  la  pensee  de  Tauteur  des 
Lettres  sur  les  Physionomies,'  qui  joint  les  graces 
de  Tesprit  et  du  corps  a  presque  tous  les  sentiments 
du  coeur  les  plus  tendres  et  les  plus  delicats  ne  doit 
point  nous  envier  une  double  force,  qui  ne  semble 
avoir  ete  donnee  a  Thomme,  Tune,  que  pour  se 
mieux  penetrer  des  attraits  de  la  beaute,  Tautre, 
que  pour  mieux  servir  a  ses  plaisirs. 

II  n*est  pas  plus  necessaire  d'etre  aussi  grand 
physionomiste  que  cet  auteur  pour  deviner  la  qua- 
lite  de  Tesprit  par  la  figure  ou  la  forme  des  traits, 
lorsqu'ils  sont  marques  jusqu'a  un  certain  point, 
qu'il  ne  Test  d'etre  grand  medecin  pour  connaitre 
un  mal  accompagne  de  tous  ses  symptomes  evidents. 
Examinez  les  portraits  de  Locke,  de  Steele,  de  Boer- 
haave,  de  Maupertuis,  etc.  vous  ne  serez  point  sur- 
pris  de  leur  trouver  des  physionomies  fortes,  des 
yeux  d'aigle.  Parcourez-en  une  infinite  d'autres, 
vous  distinguerez  toujours  le  beau  du  grand  genie, 
et  meme  souvent  Thonnete  homme  du  fripon.  On 
a  remarque,  par  exemple,  qu'un  poete  celebre  re- 
unit  (dans  son  portrait)  Tair  d'un  filou,  avec  le 
feu  de  Promethee. 

L'histoire  nous  offre  un  memorable  exemple  de 
la  puissance  de  Tair.  Le  fameux  Due  de  Guise  etait 
si  fort  convaincu  que  Henri  IIL  qui  Tavait  eu  tant 
de  fois  en  son  pouvoir,  n'oserait  jamais  Tassassiner, 
qu'il  partit  pour  Blois.  Le  chancelier  Chyverni  ap- 
prenant  son  depart,  s'ecria:  voild  un  homme  perdu! 


Lorsque  sa  fatale  prediction  fut  justifiee  par  Teve- 
nement,  on  lui  en  demanda  la  raison.  II  y  a  vingt 
ans,  dit-il,  que  je  connais  le  Roi;  il  est  naturellement 
bon  et  mime  faible;  mais  fai  observe  qu'un  rien 
Vimpatiente  et  le  met  en  fureur,  lorsqu'il  fait  froid.' 

Tel  peuple  a  I'esprit  lourd  et  stupide;  tel  autre 
Ta  vif,  leger,  penetrant.  D'ou  cela  vient-il,  si  ce 
n'est  en  partie,  et  de  la  nourriture  qu'il  prend,  et 
de  la  semence  de  ses  peres,*  et  de  ce  chaos  de  divers 
elements  qui  nagent  dans  Timmensite  de  I'air?  L*es- 
prit  a,  comme  le  corps,  ses  maladies  epidemiques  et 
son  scorbut. 

Tel  est  Tempire  du  climat,  qu'un  homme  qui  en 
change  se  ressent  malgre  lui  de  ce  changement.  C'est 
une  plante  ambulante,  qui  s'est  elle-meme  trans- 
plantee;  si  le  climat  n'est  plus  le  meme,  il  est  juste 
qu'elle  degenere,  ou  s'ameliore. 

On  prend  tout  encore  de  ceux  avec  qui  Ton  vit, 
leurs  gestes,  leurs  accents,  etc.,  comme  la  paupiere  se 
baisse  a  la  menace  du  coup  dont  on  est  prevenu,  ou 
par  la  meme  raison  que  le  corps  du  spectateur  imite 
machinalement,  et  malgre  lui,  tous  les  mouvements 
d'un  bon  pantomime. 

Ce  que  je  viens  de  dire  prouve  que  la  meilleure 
compagnie  pour  un  homme  d'esprit,  est  la  sienne, 
s'il  n'en  trouve  une  semblable.  L'esprit  se  rouille 
avec  ceux  qui  n'en  ont  point,  faute  d'etre  exerce: 
a  la  paume,  on  renvoie  mal  la  balle  a  qui  la  sert  mal. 
J'aimerais  mieux  un  homme  intelligent,  qui  n'au- 
rait  eu  aucune  education,  que  s'il  en  eut  eu  une 
mauvaise,  pourvu  qu'il  fut  encore  assez  jeune.    Un 

♦L'histoire  des  animaux  et  des  hommes  prouve  Tempire  de 
la  semence  des  peres  sur  I'esprit  et  le  corps  des  enfants. 


i 


47 


26 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


esprit  mal  conduit  est  un  acteur  que  la  province 
a  gate. 

Les  divers  etats  de  Tame  sont  done  tou jours  cor- 
relatifs  a  ceux  du  corps.  Mais,  pour  mieux  demon- 
trer  toute  cette  dependance  et  ses  causes,  servons- 
nous  ici  de  Tanatomie  comparee;  ouvrons  les  en- 
trailles  de  rhomme  et  des  animaux.  Le  moyen  de 
connaitre  la  nature  humaine,  si  Ton  n'est  eclaire 
par  un  juste  parallele  de  la  structure  des  uns  et 
des  autres  \J 

En  general,  la  forme  et  la  composition  du  cerveau 
des  quadrupedes  est  a  peu  pres  la  meme  que  dans 
rhomme.  Meme  figure,  meme  disposition  partout; 
avec  cette  difference  essentielle,  que  Thomme  est 
de  tous  les  animaux  celui  qui  a  le  plus  de  cerveau, 
et  le  cerveau  le  plus  tortueux,  en  raison  de  la 
masse  de  son  corps.  Ensuite  le  singe,  le  castor, 
relephant,  le  chien,  le  renard,  le  chat,  etc.,  voila 
les  animaux  qui  ressemblent  le  plus  a  I'homme; 
car  on  remarque  aussi  chez  eux  la  meme  analogic 
graduee,  par  rapport  au  corps  calleux,  dans  lequel 
Lancisi  avait  etabli  le  siege  de  Tame,  avant  feu 
Mr.  de  la  Peyronnie,  qui  cependant  a  illustre  cette 
opinion  par  une  foule  d'experiences.  '. 

Apres  tous  les  quadrupedes,  ce  sont  les  oiseaux 
qui  ont  le  plus  de  cerveau.  Les  poissons  ont  la 
tete  grosse;  mais  elle  est  vide  de  sens,  comme  celle 
de  bien  des  hommes.  lis  n'ont  point  de  corps  cal- 
leux et  fort  peu  de  cerveau,  lequel  manque  aux 
insectes. 

Je  ne  me  repandrai  point  en  un  plus  long  detail 
arietes  de  la  nature,  ni  en  conjectures,  car 
les  unes  et  les  autres  sont  infinies,  comme  on  en 


L'hOMME  MACHINE. 


27 


peut  juger  en  lisant  les  seuls  traites  de  Willis,  De 
Cerebro,  et  De  Anima  Brutorum. 

Je  conclurai  seulement  ce  qui  s'en  suit  claire- 
ment  de  ces  incontestables  observations:  lo  que 
plus  les  animaux  sont  farouches,  moins  ils  ont  de 
cerveau;  2o  que  ce  viscere  semble  s'agrandir,  en 
quelque  sorte,  a  proportion  de  leur  docilite;  3°  qu*il 
y  a  ici  une  singuliere  condition  imposee  eternelle- 
ment  par  la  nature,  qui  est  que  plus  on  gagnera  du 
cote  de  Tesprit,  plus  on  perdra  du  cote  de  I'instinct. 
Lequel  Temporte,  de  la  perte  ou  du  gain  ? 

Ne  croyez  pas,  au  reste,  que  je  veuille  pretendre 
par  la  que  le  seul  volume  du  cerveau  suffise  pour 
faire  juger  du  degre  de  docilite  des  animaux;  il 
faut  que  la  qualite  reponde  encore  a  la  quantite,  et 
que  les  solides  et  les  fluides^oient  dans  cet  equilibre 
convenable  qui  fait  la  s^nte. 

Si  rimbecile  ne  manque  pas  de  cerveau,  comme 
on  le  remarque  ordinairement,  ce  viscere  pechera 
par  une  mauvaise  consistance,  par  trop  de  mollesse, 
par  exemple.  II  en  est  de  meme  des  f  ous ;  les  vices 
de  leur  cerveau  ne  se  derobent  pas  tou  jours  a  nos 
recherches;  mais  si  les  causes  de  I'imbecilite,  de  la 
folic,  etc.  ne  sont  pas  sensibles,  oil  aller  chercher 
celles  de  la  variete  de  tous  les  esprits  ?  Elles  echap- 
peraient  aux  yeux  des  lynx  et  des  argus.  Un  Hen, 
une  petite  fibre,  quelque  chose  que  la  plus  subtile 
anatomie  ne  peut  decouvrir,  eut  fait  deux  sots 
.i  d'Erasme  et  de  Fontenelle,   qui  le  remarque  lui 

I V— •ipeme  dans  un  de  ses  meilleurs  Dialogues. 

,  Outre  la  mollesse  de  la  moelle  du  cerveau,  dans 
Ifes^nfants,  dans  les  petits  chiens  et  dans  les  oi- 
seaux, Willis  a  remarque  que  les  corps  canneles  sont 
effaces  et  comme  decolores  dans  tous  ces  animaux, 


28 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


et  que  leurs  stries  sont  aussi  imparfaitement  f ormees 
que  dans  les  paralytiques.  II  ajoute,  ce  qui  est 
vrai,  que  rhomme  a  la  protuberance  annulaire  fort 
grosse;  et  ensuite  toujours  diminutivement  par  de- 
gres,  le  singe  et  les  autres  animaux  nommes  ci- 
devant,  tandis  que  le  veau,  le  boeuf,  le  loup,  la 
brebis,  le  cochon,  etc.  qui  ont  cette  partie  d'un  tres 
petit  volume,  ont  les  nattes  et  testes  fort  gros. 

On  a  beau  etre  discret  et  reserve  sur  les  conse- 
quences qu'on  pent  tirer  de  ces  observations  et  de 
tant  d'autres  sur  Tespece  d'inconstance  des  vais- 
seaux  et  des  nerfs,  etc. :  tant  de  varietes  ne  peuvent 
etre  des  jeux  gratuits  de  la  nature.  Elles  prouvent 
du  moins  la  necessite  d'une  bonne  et  abondante  or- 
ganisation, puisque  dans  tout  le  regne  animal  Tame, 
se  raffermissant  avec  le  corps,  acquiert  de  la  saga- 
cite,  a  mesure  qu'il  prend  des  forces. 

Arretons-nous  a  contempler  la  differente  docilite 
des  animaux.  Sans  doute  Tanalogie  la  mieux  en- 
tendue  conduit  Tesprit  a  croire  que  les  causes  dont 
nous  avons  fait  mention  produisent  toute  la  diver- 
site  qui  se  trouve  entr'eux  et  nous,  quoiqu'il  faille 
avouer  que  notre  faible  entendement,  borne  aux 
observations  les  plus  grossieres,  ne  puisse  voir  les 
liens  qui  regnent  entre  la  cause  et  les  effets.  C*est 
une  espece  d'harmonie  que  les  philosophes  ne  con- 
naitront  jamais^ 

Parmi  les  animaux,  les  uns  apprennent  a  parler 
et  a  chanter ;  ils  retiennent  des  airs  et  prennent  tous 
les  tons  aussi  exactement  qu'un  musicien.  Les  au- 
tres, qui  montrent  cependant  plus  d'esprit,  tels  que 
le  singe,  n'en  peuvent  venir  a  bout.  Pourquoi  cela, 
si  ce  n'est  par  un  vice  des  organes  de  la  parole? 

Mais  ce  vice  est-il  tellement  de  conformation. 


l'hOMME  MACHINE. 


29 


\.. 


qu'on  n'y  puisse  apporter  aucun  remede?  en  un  mot 
serait-il  absolument  impossible  d'apprendre  une 
langue  a  cet  animal?    Je  ne  le  crois  pas. 

Je  prendrais  le  grand  singe  preferablement  a 
tout  autre,  jusqu*a  ce  que  le  hasard  nous  eut  fait 
decouvrir  quelque  autre  espece  plus  semblable  a  la 
notre,  car  rien  ne  repugne  qu'il  y  en  ait  dans  des 
regions  qui  nous  sont  inconnues.  Cet  animal  nous 
ressemble  si  fort,  que  les  naturalistes  Tout  appele 
homme  sauvage,  ou  homme  des  hois.  Je  le  pren- 
drais aux  memes  conditions  des  ecoliers  d' Amman; 
c'est-a-dire,  que  je  voudrais  qu'il  ne  fut  ni  trop 
jeune  ni  trop  vieux ;  car  ceux  qu'on  nous  apporte  en 
Europe  sont  communement  trop  ages.  Je  choisirais 
celui  qui  aurait  la  physionomie  la  plus  spirituelle,  et 
qui  tiendrait  le  mieux  dans  mille  petites  operations 
ce  qu'elle  m'aurait  promis.  Enfin,  ne  me  trouvant 
pas  digne  d'etre  son  gouverneur,  je  le  mettrais  a 
I'ecole  de  I'excellent  maitre  que  je  viens  de  nommer, 
ou  d'un  autre  aussi  habile,  s'il  en  est. 

Vous  savez  par  le  livre  d' Amman,  et  par  tous 
ceux*  qui  ont  traduit  sa  methode,  tous  les  prodiges 
qu'il  a  su  operer  sur  les  sourds  de  naissance,  dans 
les  yeux  desquels  il  a,  comme  il  le  fait  entendre 
lui-meme,  trouve  des  oreilles ;  et  en  combien  peu  de 
temps  enfin  il  leur  a  appris  a  entendre,  parler,  lire, 
et  ecrire.  Je  veux  que  les  yeux  d'un  sourd  voient 
plus  clair  et  soient  plus  intelligents  que  s'il  ne  I'etait 
pas,  par  la  raison  que  la  perte  d'un  membre  ou  d'un 
sens  pent  augmenter  la  force  ou  la  penetration  d'un 
autre :  mais  le  singe  voit  et  entend ;  il  comprend  ce 
qu'il  entend  et  ce  qu'il  voit;  il  congoit  si  parfaite- 
ment  les  signes  qu'on  lui  fait,  qu'a  tout  autre  jeu, 

♦Uauteur  de  I'Histoire  naturelle  de  Tame  etc. 


30 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


ou  tout  autre  exercice,  je  ne  doute  point  qu'il  ne 
remportat  sur  les  disciples  d' Amman.  Pourquoi 
done  Teducation  des  singes  serait-elle  impossible? 
Pourquoi  ne  pourrait-il  enfin,  a  force  de  soins,  imi- 
ter,  a  Texemple  des  sourds,  les  mouvemens  neces- 
saires  pour  prononcer?  Je  n'ose  decider  si  les  or- 
ganes  de  la  parole  du  singe  ne  peuvent,  quoiqu*on 
f asse,  rien  articuler ;  mais  cette  impossibilite  absolue 
me  surprendrait,  a  cause  de  la  grande  analogic  du 
singe  et  de  I'homme,  et  qu'il  n'est  point  d'animal 
connu  jusqu'a  present,  dont  le  dedans  et  le  dehors 
lui  ressemblent  d\me  maniere  si  frappante.  Mr. 
Locke,  qui  certainement  n*a  jamais  ete  suspect  de 
credulite,  n'a  pas  fait  difficulte  de  croire  I'histoire 
que  le  Chevalier  Temple  fait  dans  ses  Memoires, 
d*un  perroquet  qui  repondait  a  propos  et  avait 
appris,  comme  nous,  a  avoir  une  espece  de  conver- 
sation suivie.  Je  sais  qu*on  s'est  moque*  de  ce  grand  | 
metaphysicien ;  mais  qui  aurait  annonce  a  I'univers 
qu'il  y  a  des  generations  qui  se  font  sans  oeufs  et 
sans  femmes,  aurait-il  trouve  beaucoup  de  parti- 
sans? Cependant  Mr.  Trembley  en  a  decouvert, 
qui  se  font  sans  accouplement,  et  par  la  seule  sec- 
tion. Amman  n*eiit-il  pas  aussi  passe  pour  un  fou, 
s'il  se  fut  vante,  avant  que  d'en  faire  Theureuse  ex- 
perience, d'instruire,  et  en  aussi  peu  de  temps,  des 
ecoliers  tels  que  les  siens?  Cependant  ses  succes 
ont  etonne  Tunivers,  et  comme  Tauteur  de  I'His- 
toire  des  Polypes,  il  a  passe  de  plein  vol  a  Timmor- 
talite.  Qui  doit  a  son  genie  les  miracles  qu'il  opere, 
Temporte  a  mon  gre  sur  qui  doit  les  siens  au  ha- 
sard.  Qui  a  trouve  Tart  d'embellir  le  plus  beau  des 
regnes,  et  de  lui  donner  des  perfections  qu'il  n'a- 
♦Uauteur  de  THist.  de  Tame. 


l'homme  machine. 


31 


V 


vait  pas,  doit  etre  mis  au-dessus  d'un  faiseur  oisif 
de  systemes  frivoles,  ou  d'un  auteur  laborieux  de 
steriles  decouvertes.  Celles  d' Amman  sont  bien  d'un 
autre  prix;  il  a  tire  les  hommes  de  I'instinct  auquel 
ils  semblaient  condamnes ;  il  leur  a  donne  les  idees, 
de  I'esprit,  une  ame  en  un  mot,  qu'ils  n'eussent 
jamais  eue.    Quel  plus  grand  pouvoirl 

Ne  bornons  point  les  ressources  de  ia^ nature; 
elles  sont  infinies,  surtout  aidees  d'un  gran^tg-t^ 

La  meme  mecanique,  qui  ouvre  le  canal  d'Eu- 
stachi  dans  les  sourds,  ne  pourrait-il  le  deboucher 
dans  les  singes?  Une  heureuse  envie  d'imiter  la 
prononciation  du  maitre,  ne  pourrait-elle  mettre  en 
liberte  les  organes  de  la  parole,  dans  les  animaux 
qui  imitent  tant  d'autres  signes,  avec  tant  d'adresse 
et  d'intelligence  ?  Non  seulement  je  defie  qu'on  me 
cite  aucune  experience  vraiment  concluante,  qui  de- 
cide mon  pro  jet  impossible  et  ridicule ;  mais  la  simi- 
litude de  la  structure  et  des  operations  du  singe  est 
telle,  que  je  ne  doute  presque  point,  si  on  exerqait 
parfaitement  cet  animal,  qu'on  ne  vint  enfin  a  bout 
de  lui  apprendre  a  prononcer,  et  par  consequent  a 
savoir  une  langue.  Alors  ce  ne  serait  plus  ni  un 
homme  sauvage,  ni  un  homme  manque:  ce  serait 
un  homme  par  fait,  un  petit  homme  de  ville,  avec 
autant  d'etoffe  ou  de  muscles  que  nous-memes,  pour 
penser  et  profiter  de  son  education. 

Des  animaux  a  I'homme,  la  transition  n'est  pas 
violente;  les  vrais  philosophes  en  conviendront. 
Qu'etait  I'homme,  avant  I'invention  des  mots  et 
la  connaissance  des  langues?  Un  animal  de  son 
espece,  qui  avec  beaucoup  moins  d'instinct  naturel 
que  les  autres,  dont  alors  il  ne  se  croyait  pas  roi, 
n'etait  distingue  du  singe  et  des  autres  animaux 


32 


HAN  A  MACHINE. 


t 


que  comme  le  singe  Test  lui-meme ;  je  veux  dire  par 
une  physionomie  qui  annongait  plus  de  discerne- 
ment.  Reduit  a  la  seule  connaissance  intuitive  des 
Leibniziens,  il  ne  voyait  que  des  figures  et  des  cou- 
leurs,  sans  pouvoir  rien  distinguer  entr'elles ;  vieux, 
comme  jeune,  enfant  a  tout  age,  il  begayait  ses  sen- 
sations et  ses  besoins,  comme  un  chien  affame,  ou 
ennuye  de  repos,  demande  a  manger  ou  a  se  pro- 
mener. 

Les  mots,  les  langues,  les  lois,  les  sciences,  les 
beaux-arts  sont  venus;  et  par  eux  enfin  le  diamant 
brut  de  notre  esprit  a  ete  poli.  On  a  dresse  un 
homme,  comme  un  animal;  on  est  devenu  auteur, 
comme  portefaix.  Un  geometre  a  appris  a  faire 
les  demonstrations  et  les  calculs  les  plus  difficiles, 
comme  un  singe  a  oter  ou  mettre  son  petit  chapeau, 
et  a  monter  sur  son  chien  docile.  Tout  s'est  fait 
par  les  signes;  chaque  espece  a  compris  ce  qu'elle 
a  pu  comprendre :  et  c'est  de  cette  maniere  que  les 
hommes  ont  acquis  la  connaissance  symbolique,  ainsi 
nommee  encore  par  nos  philosophes  d'Allemagne. 

Rien  de  si  simple,  comme  on  voit,  que  la  meca- 

ue  de  notre  education!  Tout  se  reduit  a  des 
son^,  ou  a  des  mots,  qui  de  la  bouche  de  Tun  passent 
par  Toreille  de  Tautre  dans  le  cerveau,  qui  regoit 
en  meme  temps  par  les  yeux  la  figure  des  corps,  dont 
ces  mots  sont  les  signes  arbitraires. 

Mais  qui  a  parle  le  premier?  Qui  a  ete  le  pre- 
mier precepteur  du  genre  human?  Qui  a  invente 
les  moyens  de  mettre  a  profit  la  docilite  de  notre 
organisation  ?  Je  n'en  sais  rien ;  le  nom  de  ces  heu- 
reux  et  premiers  genies  a  ete  perdu  dans  la  nuit 
des  temps.  Mais  Tart  est  le  fils  de  la  nature;  elle 
a  du  longtemps  le  preceder. 


l'homme  machine. 


33 


On  doit  croire  que  les  hommes  les  mieux  orga- 
nises, ceux  pour  qui  la  nature  aura  epuise  ses  bien- 
faits,  auront  instruit  les  autres.  lis  n'auront  pu 
entendre  un  bruit  nouveau,  par  exemple,  eprouver  de 
nouvelles  sensations,  etre  frappe  de  tous  ces  beaux 
objets  divers  qui  forment  le  ravissant  spectacle  de 
la  nature,  sans  se  trouver  dans  le  cas  de  ce  sourd 
de  Chartres  dont  le  grand  Fontenelle  nous  a  le 
premier  donne  Thistoire,  lorsqu'il  entendit  pour  la 
premiere  fois  a  quarante  ans  le  bruit  etonnant  des 
cloches. 

De  la  serait-il  absurde  de  croire  que  ces  premiers 
mortels  essayerent  a  la  maniere  de  ce  sourd,  ou  a 
celle  des  animaux  et  des  muets  (autre  espece 
d'animaux),  d'exprimer  leurs  nouveaux  sentiments 
par  des  mouvements  dependants  de  Teconomie  de 
leur  imagination,  et  consequemment  ensuite  par  des 
sons  spontanes  propres  a  chaque  animal,  expression 
naturelle  de  leur  surprise,  de  leur  joie,  de  leurs 
transports,  ou  de  leurs  besoins?  Car  sans  doute 
ceux  que  la  nature  a  doues  d'un  sentiment  plus 
exquis,  ont  eu  aussi  plus  de  facilite  pour  Texprimer. 

Voila  comme  je  congois  que  les  hommes  ont  em- 
ploye leur  sentiment,  ou  leur  instinct,  pour  avoir  de 
Tesprit,  et  enfin  leur  esprit,  pour  avoir  des  connais- 
sances.  Voila  par  quels  moyens,  autant  que  je  puis 
les  saisir,  on  s'est  rempli  le  cerveau  des  idees,  pour 
le  reception  desquelles  la  nature  Tavait  forme.  On 
s*est  aide  Tun  par  Tautre;  et  les  plus  petits  com- 
mencements s'agrandissant  peu  a  peu,  toutes  les 
choses  de  Tunivers  ont  ete  aussi  facilement  dis- 
tinguees  qu'un  cercle. 

Comme  une  corde  de  violon  ou  une  touche  de 
clavecin  fremit  et  rend  un  son,  les  cordes  du  cer- 


34 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


veau,  frappees  par  les  rayons  sonores,  ont  ete  ex- 
citees  a  rendre  ou  a  redire  les  mots  qui  les  tou- 
chaient.  Mais  comme  telle  est  la  construction  de 
ce  viscere,  que  des  qu'une  fois  les  yeux  bien  formes 
pour  Toptique  ont  requ  la  peinture  des  objets,  le 
cerveau  ne  pent  pas  ne  pas  voir  leurs  images  et  leurs 
differences:  de  meme,  lorsque  les  signes  de  ces 
differences  ont  ete  marques,  ou  graves  dans  le  cer- 
veau, Tame  en  a  necessairement  examine  les  rap- 
ports; examen  qui  lui  etait  impossible  sans  la  de- 
couverte  des  signes,  ou  Tinvention  des  langues. 
Dans  ces  temps,  ofi  Tunivers  etait  presque  muet, 
Tame  etait  a  I'egard  de  tous  les  objets,  comme  un 
homme  qui,  sans  avoir  aucune  idee  des  propor- 
tions, regarderait  un  tableau,  ou  une  piece  de  sculp- 
ture: il  n'y  pourrait  rien  distinguer;  ou  comme  un 
petit  enfant  (car  alors  I'ame  etait  dans  son  en- 
fance)  qui,  tenant  dans  sa  main  un  certain  nombre 
de  petits  brins  de  paille  ou  de  bois,  les  voit  en  gene- 
ral d'une  vue  vague  et  superficielle,  sans  pouvoir 
les  compter  ni  les  distinguer.  Mais  qu'on  mette 
une  espece  de  pavilion,  ou  d'etendard,  a  cette  piece 
de  bois,  par  exemple,  qu'on  appelle  mat,  qu*on  en 
mette  un  autre  a  un  autre  pareil  corps;  que  le  pre- 
mier venu  se  nombre  par  le  signe  1  et  le  second 
par  le  signe  ou  chiffre  2;  alors  cet  enfant  pourra  les 
compter,  et  ainsi  de  suite  il  apprendra  toute  Tarith- 
metique.  Des  qu'une  figure  lui  paraitra  egale  a 
une  autre  par  son  signe  numeratify  il  concliara  sans 
peine  que  ce  sont  deux  corps  differents;  que  1  et  1 
font  deux,  que  2  et  2  font  4,*  etc. 

C'est  cette  similitude  reelle,  ou  apparente,   des 

*I1  y  a  encore  aujourdTiui  des  peuples,  qui,  faute  d'un  plus 
grand  nombre  de  signes,  ne  peuvent  compter  que  jusqu'a  20. 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


35 


V 


figures,  qui  est  la  base  fondamentale  de  toutes  les 
verites  et  de  toutes  nos  connaissances,  parmi  les- 
quelles  il  est  evident  que  celles  dont  les  signes  sont 
moins  simples  et  moins  sensibles  sont  plus  difficiles 
a  apprendre  que  les  autres,  en  ce  qu'elles  demandent 
plus  de  genie  pour  embrasser  et  combiner  cette 
immense  quantite  de  mots  par  lesquels  les  sciences 
dont  je  park  expriment  les  verites  de  leur  ressort: 
tandis  que  les  sciences  qui  s'annoncent  par  des 
chiffres,  ou  autres  petits  signes,  s'apprennent  fa- 
cilement ;  et  c'est  sans  doute  cette  f acilite  qui  a  fait 
la  fortune  des  calculs  algebriques,  plus  encore  que 
leur  evidence.  / 

Tout  ce^-sa^oir  dont  le  vent  enfle  le  ballon  du  cer- 
veau de  nos  pedants  orgueilleux,  n'est  done  qu'un 
vaste  amas  de  mots  et  de  figures,  qui  forment 
dans  la  tete  toutes  les  traces  par  lesquelles  nous 
distinguons  et  nous  nous  rappellons  les  objets.  Toutes 
nos  idees  se  reveillent,  comme  un  jardinier  qui 
connait  les  plantes  se  souvient  de  toutes  leurs 
phases  a  leur  aspect.  Ces  mots  et  ces  figures  qui 
sont  designes  par  eux,  sont  tellements  lies  en- 
semble dans  le  cerveau,  qu'il  est  assez  rare  qu*on 
imagine  une  chose  sans  le  nom  ou  le  signe  qui  lui 
est  attache. 

Je  me  sers  tou jours  du  mot  imaginer,  parceque 
je  crois  que  tout  s'imagine,  et  que  toutes  les  parties 
de  Tame  peuvent  etre  justement  reduites  a  la  seule 
imagination,  qui  les  forme  toutes;  et  qu'ainsi  le 
jugement,  le  raisonnement,  la  memoire  ne  sont  que 
des  parties  de  Tame  nullement  absolues,  mais  de 
veritables  modifications  de  cette  espece  de  toile  me- 
dullaire,  sur  laquelle  les  objets  peints  dans  Toeil 
sont  renvoyes,  comme  d'une  lanterne  magique. 


36 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


/^ 


Mais  si  tel  est  ce  merveilleux  et  incomprehensible 
resultat  de  Torganisation  du  cerveau ;  si  tout  se 
congoit  par  Timagination,  si  tout  s'explique  par  elle; 
pourquoi  diviser  le  principe  sensitif  qui  pense  dans 
rhomme?  N'est-ce  pas  une  contradiction  mani- 
feste  dans  les  partisans  de  la  simplicite  de  Tesprit? 
Car  une  chose  qu'on  divise  ne  pent  plus  etre,  sans 
absurdite,  regardee  comme  indivisible.  Voila  ou 
conduit  rabus  des  langues,  et  Tusage  de  ces  grands 
mots,  spiritualite,  immaterialite,  etc.,  places  a  tout 
hasard,  sans  etre  entendus,    meme  par  des  gens 

d'esprit. 

Rien  de  plus  facile  que  de  prouver  un  systeme, 
fonde  comme  celui-ci  sur  le  sentiment  intime  et  Tex- 
perience  propre  de  chaque  individu.    Uimagination, 
ou  cette  partie  fantastique  du  cerveau,  dont  la  nature 
nous  est  aussi  inconnue  que  sa  maniere  d'agir,  est- 
elle  naturellement  petite,  ou  faible?  elle  aura  a  peine 
la  force  de  comparer  I'analogie,  ou  la  ressemblance 
de  ses  idees;  elle  ne  pourra  voir  que  ce  qui  sera 
vis-a-vis  d'elle,  ou  ce  qui  Taffectera  le  plus  yive- 
ment;  et  encore  de  quelle  maniere!    Mais  toujours 
est-il  Vrai  que  Timagination  seule  apergoit ;  que  c'est 
elle  qui  se  represente  tous  les  objets,  avec  les  mots 
et  les  figures  qui  les  caracterisent ;  et  qu'ainsi  c'est 
elle  encore  une  fois  qui  est  Tame,  puisqu'elle  en 
fait  tous  les  roles.     Par  elle,  par  son  pinceau  flat- 
teur,  le  f roid  squelette  de  la  raison  prend  des  chairs 
vives  et  vermeilles ;  par  elle  les  sciences  fleurissent, 
les  arts  s'embellissent,  les  bois  parlent,  les  echos 
soupirent,  les  rochers  pleurent,  le  marbre^espire, 
tout  prend  vie  parmi  les  corps  inanimes.    C'est  elle 
encore  qui  ajoute  a  la  tendresse  d'un  coeur  amoureux 
le  piquant  attrait  de  la  volupte;  elle  la  fait  ger- 


i 


L^HOMME  MACHINE. 


37 


mer  dans  le  cabinet  du  philosophe,  et  du  pedant 
poudreux;  elle  forme  enfin  les  savants  comme  les 
orateurs  et  les  poetes.  Sottement  decriee  par  les 
uns,  vainement  distinguee  par  les  autres,  qui  tous 
Tout  mal  connue,  elle  ne  marche  pas  seulement  a  la 
suite  des  Graces  et  des  beaux-art,  elle  ne  peint  pas 
seulement  la  nature,  elle  pent  aussi  la  mesurer. 
Elle  raisonne,  juge,  penetre,  compare,  approfondit. 
Pourrait-elle  si  bien  sentir  les  beautees  des  tableaux 
qui  lui  sont  traces,  sans  en  decouvrir  les  rapports? 
Non;  comme  elle  ne  pent  se  replier  sur  les  plaisirs 
des  sens,  sans  en  gouter  toute  la  perfection  ou  la 
volupte,  elle  ne  pent  reflechir  sur  ce  qu'elle  a  meca- 
niquement  congu,  sans  etre  alors  le  jugement  meme. 

Plus  on  exerce  Timagination,  ou  le  plus  maigre 
genie,  plus  il  prend,  pour  ainsi  dire,  d'embonpoint ; 
plus  il  s'agrandit,  devient  nerveux,  robuste,  vaste 
et  capable  de  penser.  La  meilleure  organisation  a 
besoin  de  cet  exercice. 

L'organisation  est  le  premier  merite  de  Thomme; 
c'est  en  vain  que  tous  les  auteurs  de  morale  ne 
mettent  point  au  rang  des  qualites  estimables  celles 
qu'on  tient  de  la  nature,  mais  seulement  les  talents 
qui  s'acquierent  a  force  de  reflexions  et  d'industrie : 
car  d'ou  nous  vient,  je  vous  prie,  Thabilete,  la  sci- 
ence et  la  vertu,  si  ce  n'est  d'une  disposition  qui 
nous  rend  propres  a  devenir  habiles,  savants  et  ver- 
tueux  ?  Et  d'ou  nous  vient  encore  cette  disposition, 
si  ce  n'est  de  la  nature?  Nous  n'avons  de  qualites 
estimables  que  par  elle ;  nous  lui  devons  tout  ce  que 
nous  sommes.  Pourquoi  done  n'estimerais-je  pas 
autant  ceux  qui  ont  des  qualites  naturelles,  que 
ceux  qui  brillent  par  des  vertus  acquises,  et  comme 
d*emprunt  ?  Quel  que  soit  le  merite,  de  quelque  en- 


38 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


droit  qu'il  naisse,  il  est  digne  d'estime ;  il  ne  s'agit 
que  de  savoir  le  mesurer.  L'esprit,  la  beaute,  les 
richesses,  la  noblesse,  quoiqu'enfants  du  hasard, 
ont  tous  leur  prix,  comme  Tadresse,  le  savoir,  la 
vertu,  etc.  Ceux  que  la  nature  a  combles  de  ses  dons 
les  plus  precieux,  doivent  plaindre  ceux  a  qui  ils 
ont  ete  refuses;  mais  ils  peuvent  sentir  leur  supe- 
riorite  sans  orgueil,  et  en  connaisseurs.  Une  belle 
femme  serait  aussi  ridicule  de  se  trouver  laide, 
qu'un  homme  d'esprit  de  se  croire  un  sot  Une 
modestie  outree  (defaut  rare  a  la  verite)  est  une 
sorte  d'ingratitude  envers  la  nature.  Une  honnete 
fierte,  au  contraire,  est  la  marque  d'une  ame  belle 
et  grande,  que  decelent  des  traits  males  monies 
comme  par  le  sentiment. 

Si  rorganisation  est  un  merite,  et  le  premier  me- 

rite,  et  la  source  de  tous  les  autres,  I'instruction  est 

le  second.    Le  cerveau  le  mieux  construit,  sans  elle, 

le  serait  en  pure  perte;    comme  sans  I'usage  du 

monde,  Thomme  le  mieux  fait  ne  serait  qu'un  pay- 

san  grossier.     Mais  aussi  quel  serait  le  fruit  de  la 

plus  excellente  ecole,  sans  une  matrice  parfaitement 

ouverte  a  Tentree  ou  a  la  conception  des  idees  ?    II 

est  aussi  impossible  de  donner  une  seule  idee  a  un 

homme  prive  de  tous  les  sens,   que  de   faire  un 

enfant  a  une  femme  a  laquelle  la  nature  aurait 

pousse  la  distraction  jusqu'a  oublier  de  faire  une 

vulve,  comme  je  Tai  vu  dans  une,  qui  n'avait  ni 

fente,  ni  vagin,  ni  matrice,  et  qui  pour  cette  raison 

fut  demariee  apres  dix  ans  de  mariage. 

Mais  si  le  cerveau  est  a  la  fois  bien  organise  et 
bien  instruit,  c'est  une  terre  feconde  parfaitement 
ensemencee,  qui  produit  le  centuple  de  ce  qu'elle  a 
rcQu:  ou  (pour  quitter  le  style  figure  sou  vent  ne- 


L^HOMME  MACHINE. 


39 


cessaire,  pour  mieux  exprimer  ce  qu'on  sent  et 
donner  des  graces  a  la  Verite  meme),  I'imagination 
elevee  par  I'art  a  la  belle  et  rare  dignite  de  genie, 
saisit  exactement  tous  les  rapports  des  idees  qu'elle 
a  conQues,  embrasse  avec  facilite  une  foule  eton- 
nante  d^objets,  pour  en  tirer  enfin  une  longue  chaine 
de  consequences,  lesquelles  ne  sont  encore  que  de 
nouveaux  rapports,  enfantes  par  la  comparaison 
des  premiers,  auxquels  Tame  trouve  une  parfaite 
ressemblance.  Telle  est,  selon  moi,  la  generation 
de  Tesprit.  Je  dis  trouve,  comme  j'ai  donne  ci- 
devant  Tepithete  d'apparente  a  la  similitude  des 
objets:  non  que  je  pense  que  nos  sens  soient  tou- 
jours  trompeurs,  comme  Ta  pretendu  le  Pere  Male- 
branche,  ou  que  nos  yeux  naturellement  un  peu 
ivres  ne  voient  pas  les  objets  tels  qu'ils  sont  en  eux 
memes,  quoique  les  microscopes  nous  le  prouvent 
tous  les  jours,  mais  pour  n'avoir  aucune  dispute 
avec  les  Pyrrhoniens,  parmi  lesquels  Bayle  s'est 
distingue. 

^\7 Je  dis^e  la  verite  en  general  ce  que  Mr.  de  Fon- 

W  tenelle  dit  de  certaines  en  particulier,  qu'il  faut  la 
sacrifier  au^agrements  de  la  societe.  II  est  de  la 
douceur  de  mon  caractere  d'obvier  a  toute  dispute, 
lorsqu'il  ne  s'agit  pas  d*aiguiser  la  conversation. 
Les  Cartesiens  viendraient  ici  vainement  a  la  charge 
avec  leur  idees  innees;  je  ne  me  donnerais  certaine- 
ment  pas  le  quart  de  la  peine  qu*a  prise  Mr.  Locke 
pour  attaquer  de  telles  chimeres.  Quelle  utilite,  en 
eflfet,  de  faire  un  gros  livre,  pour  prouver  une  doc- 
trine qui  etait  erigee  en  axiome  il  y  a  trois  mille 
ans? 

Suivant  les  principes  que  nous  avons  poses,  et 
que  nous  croyons  vrais,  celui  qui  a  le  plus  d'imagina- 


40 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


tion  doit  etre  regarde  comme  ayant  le  plus  d'esprit, 
ou  de  genie,  car  tous  ces  mots  sont  synonymes  ;^  et 
encore  une  fois  c'est  par  un  abus  honteux  qu'on 
croit  dire  des  choses  differentes,  lorsqu'on  ne  dit  que 
differents  mots  ou  differents  sons,  auxquels  on  n'a 
attache  aucune  idee  ou  distinction  reelle. 

La  plus  belle,  la  plus  grande,  ou  la  plus  forte 
imagination,  est  done  la  plus  propre  aux  sciences, 
comme  aux  arts.  Je  ne  decide  point  s'il  faut  plus 
d'esprit  pour  exceller  dans  I'art  des  Aristotes,  ou 
des  Descartes,  que  dans  celui  des  Euripides  ou  des 
Sophocles ;  et  si  la  nature  s'est  mise  en  plus  grands 
frais  pour  faire  Newton  que  pour  former  Corneille 
(ce  dont  je  doute  fort),  mais  il  est  certain  que 
c'est  la  seule  imagination  diversement  appliquee 
qui  a  fait  leur  different  triomphe  et  leur  gloire  im- 
mortelle. 

'^i  quelqu'un  passe  pour  avoir  peu  de  jugement, 
av^  beaucoup  d'imagination ;  cela  veut  dire  que 
rimagination  trop  abandonnee  a  elle  meme,  presque 
tou jours  comme  occupee  a  se  regarder  dans  le  mi- 
roir  de  ses  sensations,  n'a  pas  assez  contracte  I'habi- 
tude  de  les  examiner  elles-memes  avec  attention ;  plus 
profondement  penetree  des  traces,  ou  des  images, 
que  de  leur  verite  ou  de  leur  ressemblance. 

II  est  vrai  que  telle  est  la  vivacite  des  ressorts  de 
rimagination,  que  si  Inattention,  cette  cle  ou  mere  des 
sciences,  ne  s'en  mele,  il  ne  lui  est  gueres  permis 
que  de  parcourir  et  d^effleurer  les  objets. 

Voyez  cet  oiseau  sur  la  branche,  il  semble  tou- 
jours  pret  a  s'envoler;  rimagination  est  de  meme. 
Toujours  emportee  par  le  tourbillon  du  sang  et  des 
esprits,  une  onde  fait  une  trace,  effacee  par  celle 
qui  suit ;  I'ame  court  apres,  souvent  en  vain :  il  faut 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


41 


qu'elle  s'attende  a  regretter  ce  qu'elle  n'a  pas  assez 
vite  saisi  et  fixe:  et  c'est  ainsi  que  rimagination, 
veritable  image  du  temps,  se  detruit  et  se  renouvelle 
sans  cesse. 

Tel  est  le  chaos  et  la  succession  continuelle  et 
rapide  de  nos  idees ;  elles  se  chassent,  comme  un  flot 
pousse  rautre;  de  sorte  que  si  rimagination  n*em- 
ploie,  pour  ainsi  dire,  une  partie  de  ses  muscles 
pour  etre  comme  en  equilibre  sur  les  cordes  du  cer- 
veau,  pour  se  soutenir  quelque  temps  sur  un  objet 
qui  va  fuir  et  s'empecher  de  tomber  sur  un  autre, 
qu'il  n*est  pas  encore  temps  de  contempler,  jamais 
elle  ne  sera  digne  du  beau  nom  de  jugement.  Elle 
exprimera  vivement  ce  qu'elle  aura  senti  de  meme; 
elle  formera  des  orateurs,  des  musiciens,  des  pein- 
tres,  des  poetes,  et  jamais  un  seul  philosophe.  Au  con- 
traire  si,  des  renfance,  on  accoutume  rimagination 
a  se  brider  elle-meme,  a  ne  point  se  laisser  emporter 
a  sa  propre  impetuosite,  qui  ne  fait  que  de  brillants 
enthousiastes,  a  arreter,  contenir  ses  idees,  a  les 
retourner  dans  tous  les  sens,  pour  voir  toutes  les 
faces  d*un  objet,  alors  I'imagination  prompte  a 
juger  embrassera  par  le  raisonnement  la  plus 
grande  sphere  d 'objets,  et  sa  vivacite,  toujours  de 
si  bon  augure  dans  les  enfants,  et  qu'il  ne  s'agit  que 
de  regler  par  retude  et  rexercice,  ne  sera  plus  qu'une 
penetration  clairvoyante,  sans  laquelle  on  fait  peu 
de  progres  dans  les  sciences. 

Tels  sont  les  simples  fondements  sur  lesquels  a 

ete  bati  redifice  de  la  logique.    La  nature  les  avait 

jetes  pour  tout  le  genre  humain;  mais  les  uns  en 

^^^j3nt  profite,  les  autres  en  ont  almseT^ 

a .      "HMalgre  toutes  ces  prerogatives'^  I'homme  sur 

^      les  animaux,  c'est  lui  faire  honneur  que  de  le  ran- 


42 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


ger  dans  la  meme  classe.  II  est  vrai  que,  jusqu'a  un 
certain  age,  il  est  plus  animal  qu'eux,  parce  qu'il 
apporte  moins  d'instinct  en  naissant. 

Quel  est  Tanimal  qui  mourrait  de  faim  au  milieu 
d'une  riviere  de  lait?  L'homme  seul.  Semblable 
a  ce  vieux  enfant  dont  un  moderne  parle  d'apres 
Arnobe,  il  ne  connait  ni  les  aliments  qui  lui  sont 
propres,  ni  I'eau  qui  peut  le  noyer,  ni  le  feu  qui 
peut  le  reduire  en  poudre.  Faites  briller  pour  la 
premiere  fois  la  lumiere  d'une  bougie  aux  yeux  d'un 
enfant,  il  y  portera  machinalement  le  doigt,  comme 
pour  savoir  quel  est  le  nouveau  phenomene  qu'il 
aperqoit;  c'est  a  ses  depens  qu'il  en  connaitra  le 
danger,  mais  il  n'y  sera  pas  repris. 

Mettez-le  encore  avec  un  animal  sur  le  bord  d'un 
precipice!  lui  seul  y  tombera;  il  se  noie,  ou  Tautre 
se  sauve  a  la  nage.  A  quatorze  ou  quinze  ans,  il 
entrevoit  a  peine  les  grands  plaisirs  qui  I'attendent 
dans  la  reproduction  de  son  espece;  deja  adolescent, 
il  ne  sait  pas  trop  comment  s'y  prendre  dans  un  jeu 
que  la  nature  apprend  si  vite  aux  animaux:  il  se 
cache,  comme  s'il  etait  honteux  d'avoir  du  plaisir  et 
d'etre  fait  pour  etre  heureux,  tandis  que  les  animaux 
se  font  gloire  d'etre  cyniques.  Sans  education,  ils 
sont  sans  prejuges.  Mais  voyons  encore  ce  chien  et 
cet  enfant  qui  ont  tous  deux  perdu  leur  maitre  dans 
un  grand  chemin :  I'enfant  pleure,  il  ne  sait  a  quel 
saint  se  vouer ;  le  chien,  mieux  servi  par  son  odorat 

_  I'autre  par  sa  raison,  I'aura  bientot  trouve. 

La  nature  nous  avait  done    faits  pour  etre  au 

^ous  des  animaux,  ou  du  moins  pour  faire  par 

la  meme  mieux  eclater  les  prodiges  de  I'education, 

qui  seule  nous  tire  du  niveau  et  nous  eleye  enfin 

au-dessus  d'eux.    Mais  accordera-t-on  la  meme  dis- 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


43 


tinction  aux  sourds,  aux  aveugles-nes,  aux  im- 
beciles, aux  fous,  aux  hommes  sauvages,  ou  qui 
ont  ete  eleves  dans  les  bois  avec  les  betes,  a  ceux 
dont  I'affection  hypocondriaque  a  perdu  I'imagina- 
tion,  enfin  a  toutes  ces  betes  a  figure  humaine,  qui 
ne  montrent  que  I'instinct  le  plus  grossier?  Non, 
tous  ces  hommes  de  corps,  et  jion  d'esprit,  ne  me- 
,_ritent  pas  une  classe  partictJiereT/' 
'  Nous  n'avons  pas  dessein  de  nous  dissimuler  les 
objections  qu'on  peut  faire  en  faveur  de  la  distinc- 
tion primitive  de  I'homme  et  des  animaux,  contre 
notre  sentiment.  II  y  a,  dit-on,  dans  I'homme  une 
loi  naturelle,  une  connaissance  du  bien  et  du  mal, 
qui  n'a  pas  ete  gravee  dans  le  coeur  des  animaux. 

Mais  cette  objection,  ou  plutot  cette  assertion 
est-elle  fondee  sur  I'experience,  sans  laquelle  un 
philosophe  peut  tout  rejeter?  En  avons-nous  quel- 
qu'une  qui  nous  convainque  que  I'homme  seul  a 
ete  eclaire  d'un  rayon  refuse  a  tous  les  autres  ani- 
maux? S'il  n'y  en  a  point,  nous  ne  pouvons  pas 
plus  connaitre  par  elle  ce  qui  se  passe  dans  eux,  et 
meme  dans  les  hommes,  que  ne  pas  sentir  ce  qui 
affecte  I'interieur  de  notre  etre.  Nous  savons  que 
nous  pensons  et  que  nous  avons  des  remords:  un 
sentiment  intime  ne  nous  force  que  trop  d'en  con- 
venir;  mais  pour  juger  des  remords  d'autrui,  ce 
sentiment  qui  est  dans  nous  est  insufiisant:  c'est 
pourquoi  il  en  faut  croire  les  autres  hommes  sur 
leur  parole,  ou  sur  les  signes  sensibles  et  exterieurs 
/^  que  nous  avons  remarques  en  nous-memes,  lorsque 
nous  eprouvions  la  meme  conscience  et  les  memes 
lents. 

Mais  pour  decider  si  les  animaux  qui  ne  parlent 
point  ont  regu  la  loi  naturelle,  il  faut  s'en  rapporter 


44 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


consequemment  a  ces  signes  dont  je  viens  de  parler, 
suppose  qu'ils  existent.  Les  faits  semblent  le  prou- 
ver.  Le  chien  qui  a  mordu  son  maitre  qui  Tagagait, 
a  paru  s'en  repentir  le  moment  suivant;  on  I'a  vu 
triste,  fache,  n'osant  se  montrer,  et  s'avouer  coupable 
par  un  air  rampant  et  humilie.  L'histoire  nous 
offre  un  exemple  celebre  d'un  lion  qui  ne  voulut 
pas  dechirer  un  homme  abandonne  a  sa  fureur, 
parce  qu'il  le  reconnut  pour  son  bienfaiteur.  Qu'il 
serait  a  souhaiter  que  Thomme  meme  montrat  tou- 
jours  la  meme  reconnaissance  pour  les  bienfaits  et 
le  meme  respect  pour  I'humanite !  On  n'aurait  plus 
a  craindre  les  ingrats,  ni  ces  guerres  qui  sont  le  fleau 
du  genre  humain  et  les  vrais  bourreaux  de  la  loi 
naturelle.  7 

Mais  Un  etre  a  qui  la  nature  a  donne  un  instinct 
si  precoce,  si  eclaire,  qui  juge,  combine,  raisonne  et 
delibere,  autant  que  s'etend  et  le  lui  permet  la  sphere 
de  son  activite;  un  etre  qui  s'attache  par  les  bien- 
faits, qui  se  detache  par  les  mauvais  traitements  et 
va  essayer  un  meilleur  maitre ;  un  etre  d*une  struc- 
ture semblable  a  la  notre,  qui  fait  les  memes  ope- 
rations, qui  a  les  memes  passions,  les  memes  dou- 
leurs,  les  memes  plaisirs,  plus  ou  moins  vifs  sui- 
vant Tempire  de  I'imagination  et  la  delicatesse  des 
nerf s ;  un  tel  etre  enfin  ne  montre-t-il  pas  clairement 
qu'il  sent  ses  torts  et  les  notres,  qu'il  connait  le 
bien  et  le  mal  et,  en  un  mot,  a  conscience  de  ce  qu'il 
fait?  Son  ame  qui  marque  comme  la  notre  les 
memes  joies,  les  memes  mortifications,  les  memes 
deconcertements,  serait-elle  sans  aucune  repugnance 
a  la  vue  de  son  semblable  dechire,  ou  apres  I'avoir 
lui-meme  impitoyablement  mis  en  pieces  ?  Cela  pose, 
le  don  precieux  dont  il  s'agit  n'aurait  point  ete 


\ 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


45 


refuse  aux  animaux ;  car  puisqu'ils  nous  off  rent  des 
signes  evidents  de  leur  repentir,  comme  de  leur  in- 
telligence, qu'y  a-t-il  d'absurde  a  penser  que  des 

.X       etres,   des  machines  presque  aussi    parfaites  que 
nous,  soient,  comme  nous,  faites  pour  penser  et  pour 

\__^sentir  la  nature? 

Qu'on  ne  m'objecte  point  que  les  animaux  sont 
pomNla  plupart  des  etres  feroces,  qui  ne  sont  pas 
capables  de  sentir  les  maux  qu'ils  font;  car  tons  les 
hommes  distinguent-ils  mieux  les  vices  et  les  ver- 
tus  ?  II  est  dans  notre  espece  de  la  f erocite,  comme 
dans  la  leur.  Les  hommes  qui  sont  dans  la  bar- 
bare  habitude  d'enfreindre  la  loi  naturelle,  n'en 
sont  pas  si  tourmentes  que  ceux  qui  la  transgressent 
pour  la  premiere  fois,  et  que  la  force  de  I'exemple 
n'a  point  endurcis.  II  en  est  de  meme  des  animaux, 
comme  des  hommes.  Les  uns  et  les  autres  peuvent 
etre  plus  ou  moins  feroces  par  temperament,  et  ils  le 
deviennent  encore  plus  avec  ceux  qui  le  sont.  Mais 
un  animal  doux,  pacifique,  qui  vit  avec  d'autres 
animaux  semblables,  et  d'aliments  doux,  sera  en- 
nemi  du  sang  et  du  carnage,  il  rougira  interieure- 
ment  de  I'avoir  verse ;  avec  cette  difference  peut-etre 
que,  comme  chez  eux  tout  est  immole  aux  besoins, 
aux  plaisirs  et  aux  commodites  de  la  vie,  dont  ils 
jouissent  plus  que  nous,  leurs  remords  ne  semblent 
pas  devoir  etre  si  vifs  que  les  notres,  parceque  nous 
ne  sommes  pas  dans  la  meme  necessite  qu'eux.  La 
coutume  emousse  et  peut-etre  etouffe  les  remords, 
comme  les  plaisirs. 

Mais  je  veux  pour  un  moment  supposer  que  je 
me  trompe,  et  qu'il  n'est  pas  juste  que  presque  tout 
I'univers  ait  tort  a  ce  sujet,  tandis  que  j'aurais  seul 
raison;  j'accorde  que  les  animaux,  meme  les  plus 


46 


MAN  A  MACHINE, 


excellents,  ne  connaissent  pas  la  4istinction  du  bien 
et  du  mal  moral,  qu'ils  n'ont  aucune  memoire  des 
attentions  qu*on  a  cues  pour  eux,  du  bien  qu'on  leur 
a  fait,  aucun  sentiment  de  leurs  propres  vertus; 
que  ce  lion,  par  exemple,  dont  j'ai  parle  apres  tant 
d'autres,  ne  se  souvienne  pas  de  n^avoir  pas  voulu 
ravir  la  vie  a  cet  homme  qui  fut  livre  a  sa  furie, 
dans  un  spectacle  plus  inhumain  que  tous  les  lions, 
les  tigres  et  les  ours;  tandis  que  nos  compatriotes 
se  battent,    Suisses  contre   Suisses,   freres  contre 
freres,  se  reconnaissent,  s'enchainent,  ou  se  tuent 
sans  remords,  parce  qu'un  prince  paie  leurs  meur- 
tres:  je  suppose  enfin  que  la  loi  naturelle  n'ait  pas 
ete  donnea^aux  animaux,  quelles  en  seront  les  con- 
sequences? >  L'homme  n'est  pas  petri  d'un  limon 
plus  predeux;  la  nature  n'a  employe  qu'une  seule 
et  meme  pate,  dont  elle  a  seulement  varie  les  levains. 
Si  done  Tanimal  ne  se  repent  pas  d'avoir  viole  le 
sentiment  interieur  dont  je  parle,  ou  plutot  s'il  en 
est  absolument  prive,   il   faut  necessairement  que 
rhomme  soit  dans  le  meme  cas:  moyennant  quoi 
adieu  la  loi  naturelle  et  tous  ces    beaux    traites 
qu'on  a  publics  sur  elle!    Tout  le  regne  animal  en 
serait  generalement  depourvu.  Mais  reciproquement 
si  l'homme  ne  pent  se  dispenser  de  convenir  qu'il 
distingue  toujours,  lorsque  la  sante  le  laisse  jouir 
de  lui-meme,  ceux  qui  ont  de  la  probite,  de  I'huma- 
nite,  de  la  vertu,  de  ceux  qui  ne  sont  ni  humains,  ni 
vertueux,  ni  honnetes  gens;  qu'il  est  facile  de  di- 
stinguer  ce  qui  est  vice,  ou  vertu,  par  I'unique  plaisir 
ou  la  propre  repugnance  qui  en  sont  comme  les 
effets  naturels,  il  s'ensuit  que  les  animaux  formes 
de  la  meme  matiere,  a  laquelle  il  n'a  peut-etre  man- 
que qu'un  degre  de  fermentation  pour  egaler  les 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


47 


hommes  en  tout,  doivent  participer  aux  memes 
prerogatives  de  I'animalite,  et  qu'ainsi  il  n'est  point 
d'ame,  ou  de  substance  sensitive,  sans  remords.  La 
reflexion  suivante  va  fortifier  celles-ci. 

On  ne  pent  detruire  la  loi  naturelle.  L'em- 
preinte  en  est  si  forte  dans  tous  les  animaux,  que 
je  ne  doute  nullement  que  les  plus  sauvages  et  les 
plus  feroces  n'aient  quelques  moments  de  repentir. 
Je  crois  que  la  fille  sauvage  de  Chalons  en  Cham- 
pagne aura  porte  la  peine  de^spn  crime,  s'il  est  vrai 
qu'elle  ait  mange  sa  soeur.\ Je  pense  la  meme  chose 
de  tous  ceux  qui  commett<eot  des  crimes,  meme 
involontaires,  ou  de  temperanient :  de  Gaston  d'Or- 
leans  qui  ne  pouvait  s'empecher  de  voler;  de  cer- 
taine  femme  qui  fut  sujette  au  meme  vice  dans  la 
grossesse,  et  dont  ses  en f ants  heriterent ;  de  celle  qui 
dans  le  meme  etat,  mangea  son  mari ;  de  cette  autre 
qui  egorgeait  les  en f ants,  salait  leurs  corps,  et  en 
mangeait  tous  les  jours  comme  du  petit  sale;  de 
cette  fille  de  voleur  anthropophage,  qui  la  devint 
a  12  ans,  quoiqu'ayant  perdu  pere  et  mere  a  I'age 
d'un  an  elle  eut  ete  elevee  par  d'honnetes  gens, 
pour  ne  rien  dire  de  tant  d'autres  exem  )les  dont  nos 
observateurs  sont  remplis,  et  qui  prouvent  tous 
qu'il  est  mille  vices  et  vertus  hereditaires,  qui 
passent  des  parents  aux  en f ants,  comme  ceux  de  la 
nourrice  a  ceux  qu'elle  allaite.  Je  dis  done  et  j'ac- 
corde  que  ces  malheureux  ne  sentent  pas  pour  la 
plupart  sur  le  champ  I'enormite  de  leur  action.  La 
boulimie,  par  exemple,  ou  la  faim  canine,  pent  etein- 
dre  tout  sentiment ;  c'est  une  manie  d'estomac  qu'on 
est  force  de  satisfaire.  Mais  revenues  a  elles-memes, 
et  comme  desenivrees,  quels  remords  pour  ces 
femmes  qui  se  rappellent  le  meurtre  qu'elles  ont 


48 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


L'hOMME  MACHINE. 


49 


''""iiiii 


commis  dans  ce  qu'elles  avaient  de  plus  cher !  quelle 
punition  d'un  mal  involontaire,  auquel  elles  n'ont 
pu  resister,  dont  elles  n'ont  eu  aucune  conscience! 
Cependant  ce  n'est  point  ass^z^pparemment  pour 
les  juges.  Parmi  les  femmes  dbnt^e  p^le,  Tune 
fut  rouee,  et  brialee,  I'autre  enterree  vlvO  Je  sens 
tout  ce  que  demande  Tinteret  de  la  societe.  Mais 
il  serait  sans  doute  a  souhaiter  qu'il  n'y  eut  pour 
juges  que  d'excellents  medecins.  ■  Eux  seuls  pour- 
raient  distinguer  le  criminel  innocent,  du  coupable. 
Si  la  raison  est  esclave  d*un  sens  deprave,  ou  en 
fureur,  comment  peut-elle  le  gouverner? 

Mais  si  le  crime  porte  avec  soi  sa  propre  punition 
plus  ou  moins  cruelle;  si  la  plus  longue  et  la  plus 
barbare  habitude  ne  pent  tout-a-fait  arracher  le 
repentir  des  cceurs  les  plus  inhumains;  s'ils  sont 
dechires  par  la  memoire  meme  de  leurs  actions ;  pour 
quoi  effrayer  I'imagination  des  esprits  faibles  par-^ 
un  enfer,  par  des  spectres,  et  des  precipices  de  feu, 
moins  reels  encore  que  ceux  de  Pascal*  ?^u'est-il 
besoin  de  recourir  a  des  fables,  comme  un  pape  de 
bonne  foi  Ta  dit  lui-meme,  pour  tourmenter  les  mal- 
heureux  memes  qu'on  fait  perir,  parce  qu'on  ne  les 
trouve  pas  assez  punis  par  leur  propre  conscience, 
qui  est  leur  premier  bourreau?  Ce  n'est  pas  que  je 
veuille  dire  que  tous  les  criminels  soient  injuste- 

*  Dans  un  cercle,  ou  a  table,  il  lui  fallait  tqujours  un  rem- 
part  de  chaises,  ou  quelqu'un  dans  son  voisinage  du  cote 
gauche,  pour  I'empecher  de  voir  des  abimes  epouvantables 
dans  lesquels  il  craignait  quelquefois  de  tomber,  quelque  con- 
naissance  qu'il  eut  de  ces  illusions.  Quel  effrayant  effet  de 
rimagination,  ou  d'une  singuliere  circulation  dans  un  lobe  du 
cerveau!  Grand  homme  d'un  cote,  il  etait  a  moitie  fou  de 
I'autre.  La  folie  et  la  sagesse  avaient  chacun  leur  departe- 
ment,  ou  leur  lobe,  separe  par  la  faux.  De  quel  cote  tenait-il 
si  fort  a  Mrs.  de  Port-Royal?  J'ai  lu  ce  fait  dans  un  extrait 
du  traite  du  vertige  de  Mr.  de  la  Mettrie. 


"Ji 


ment  punis ;  je  pretends  seulement  que  ceux  dont  la 
volonte  est  depravee,  et  la  conscience  eteinte,  le 
sont  assez  par  leurs  remords,  quand  ils  reviennent 
a  eux-memes;  remords,  j'ose  encore  le  dire,  dont 
la  nature  aurait  du  en  ce  cas,  ce  me  semble,  de- 
livrer  des  malheureux  entraines  par  une  fatale  ne- 

cessite. 

Les  criminels,  les  mechants,  les  ingrats,  ceux 
enfin  que  ne  sentent  pas  la  nature,  tyrans  mal- 
heureux et  indignes  du  jour,  ont  beau  se  faire  un 
cruel  plaisir  de  leur  barbaric,  il  est  des  moments 
calmes  et  de  reflexion,  oil  la  conscience  vengeresse 
s'eleve,  depose  contr'eux,  et  les  condamne  a  etre 
presque  sans  cesse  dechires  de  ses  propres  mains. 
Qui  tourmente  les  hommes,  est  tourmente  par  lui- 
meme  ;  et  les  maux  qu'il  sentira  seront  la  juste  me- 
sure  de  ceux  qu'il  aura  faits. 

D'un  autre  cote,  il  y  a  tant  de  plaisir  a  faire  du 
bien,  a  sentir,  a  reconnaitre  celui  qu'on  regoit,  tant 
de  contentement  a  pratiquer  la  vertu,  a  etre  doux, 
humain,  tendre,  charitable,  compatissant  et  gene- 
reux  (ce  seul  mot  renferme  toutes  les  vertus),  que 
je  tiens  pour  a^ss^  pum  quiconque  a  le  malheur  de 
n'etre  pas  ne  vertu^ru^ 

Tous  n'avons  pas  originairement  ete  faits  pour  etre 
savants ;  c'est  peut-etre  par  une  espece  d'abus  de  nos 
facultes  organiques,  que  nous  le  sommes  devenus; 
et  cela  a  la  charge  de  I'Etat,  qui  nourrit  une  multi- 
tude de  faineants,  que  la  vanite  a  decores  du  nom 
de  philosophes.  La  nature  nous  a  tous  crees  uni- 
quement  pour  etre  heureux';  oui,  tous,  depuis  le  ver 
qui  rampe,  jusqu'a  I'aigle  qui  se  perd  dans  la  nue. 
C'est  pourquoi  elle  a  donne  a  tous  les  animaux 
quelque  portion  de  la  loi  naturelle,  portion  plus 


50 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


ou  moins  exquise  selon  que  le  comportent  les  or- 
ganes  bien  conditionnes  de  chaque  animal. 

A  present,  comment  definirons-nous  la  loi  natu- 
relle  ?  C'est  un  sentiment  qui  nous  apprend  ce  que  nous 
ne  devons  pas  faire,  parce  que  nous  ne  voudrions  pas 
qu'on  nous  le  fit.  Oserais-je  a j  outer  a  cette  idee 
commune,  qu'il  me  semble  que  ce  sentiment  n'est 
qu'une  espece  de  crainte,  ou  de  f rayeur,  aussi  salu- 
taire  a  I'espece  qu'a  I'individu;  car  peut-etre  ne 
respectons-nous  la  bourse  et  la  vie  des  autres,  que 
pour  nous  conserver  nos  biens,  notre  honneur  et 
nous-memes;  semblables  a  ces  Ixions  du  Christia- 
nisme  qui  n*aiment  Dieu  et  n'embrassent  tant  de 
chimeriques  vertus,  que  parce  qu'ils  craignent  I'en- 
fer. 

Vous  voyez  que  la  loi  naturelle  n'est  qu*un  senti- 
ment intime,  qui  appartient  encore  a  I'imagination, 
comme  tous  les  autres,  parmi  lesquels  on  compte 
la  pensee.  Par  consequent  elle  ne  suppose  evidem- 
ment  ni  education,  ni  revelation,  ni  legislateur,  a 
moins  qu*on  ne  veuille  la  confondre  avec  les  lois 
civiles,  a  la  maniere  ridicule  des  theologiens. 

Les  armes  du  fanatisme  peuvent  detruire  ceux 
qui  soutiennent  ces  verites;  mais  elles  ne  detruiront 
jamais  ces  verites  memes. 

Ce  n'est  pas  que  je  revoque  en  doute  Texistence 
d'un  Etre  supreme;  il  me  semble  au  contraire  que 
le  plus  grand  degre  de  probabilite  est  pour  elle: 
mais  comme  cette  existence  ne  prouve  pas  plus  la 
necessite  d'un  culte,  que  toute  autre,  c'est  une  verite 
theorique,  qui  n'est  guere  d'usage  dans  la  pratique : 
de  sorte  que,  comme  on  peut  dire,  d'apres  tant  d'ex- 
periences,  que  la  religion  ne  suppose  pas  I'exacte 


l'homme  machine. 


51 


probite,  les  memes  raisons  autorisent  a  penser  que 
I'atheisme  ne  I'exclut  pas.* 

Qui  sait  d'ailleurs  si  la  raison  de  rexistence  de 
rhomme  ne  serait  pas  dans  son  existence  meme? 
Peut-etre  a-t-il  ete  jete  au  hasard  sur  un  point  de 
la  surface  de  la  terre,  sans  qu'on  puisse  savoir  ni 
comment,  ni  pourquoi,  mais  seulement  qu'il  doit 
vivre  et  mourir,  semblable  a  ces  champignons,  qui 
paraissent  d'un  jour  a  I'autre,  ou  a  ces  fleurs  qui 
bordent  les  fosses  et  couvrent  les  murailles. 

Ne  nous  perdons  point  dans  I'infini,  nou3  ne 
sommes  pas  faits  pour  en  avoir  la  moindre  idee; 
il  nous  est  absolument  impossible  de  remonter  a 
I'origine  des  choses.  II  est  egal  d'ailleurs  pour 
notre  repos,  que  la  matiere  soit  eternelle,  ou  qu'elle 
ait  ete  creee,  qu'il  y  ait  un  Dieu,  ou  qu'il  n'y  en  ait 
,  pas.  Quelle  folic  de  tant  se  tourmenter  pour  ce 
/]  qu'il  est  impossible  de  connaitre,  et  ce  qui  ne  nous 
rendrait  pas  plus  heureux,  quand  nous  en  viendrions 

;^  -bout  -^ 

Mais,  dit-on,  lisez  tous  les  ouvrages  des  Fene- 
des  Nieuventit,  des  Abadie,  des  Derham,  des 
Rai,'e!CK.  Eh  bien!  que  m'apprendront-ils ?  ou  plutot 
que  m'ont-ils  appris  ?  Ce  ne  sont  que  d'ennuyeuses 
repetitions  d'ecrivains  zeles,  dont  I'un  n'ajoute  a 
I'autre  qu'un  verbiage,  plus  propres  a  fortifier  qu'a 
saper  les  fondements  de  I'atheisme.  Le  volume  des 
preuves  qu'on  tire  du  spectacle  de  la  nature,  ne 
leur  donne  pas  plus  de  force.  La  structure  seule 
d'un  doigt,  d'une  oreille,  d'un  ceil,  une  observation 
de  Malpighi  prouve  tout,  et  sans  doute  beaucoup 
mieux  que  Descartes  et  Malebranche;  ou  tout  le 
teste  ne  prouve  rien.  Les  deistes,  et  les  Chretiens 
memes  devraient  done  se  contenter  de  faire  observer 


I 


52 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


que,  dans  tout  le  regne  animal,  les  memes  vues  sont 
executees  par  une  infinite  de  divers  moyens,  tous 
cependant  exactement  geometriques.  Car  de  quelles 
plus  fortes  armes  pourrait-on  terrasser  les  athees? 
II  est  vrai  que  si  ma  raison  ne  me  trompe  pas, 
Thomme  et  tout  Tunivers  semblent  avoir  ete  des- 
tines a  cette  unite  de  vues.  Le  soleil,  I'air,  Teau, 
Torganisation,  la  forme  des  corps,  tout  est  arrange 
dans  I'oeil,  comme  dans  un  miroir  qui  presente  fidele- 
ment  a  Timagination  les  objets  qui  y  sont  peints, 
suivant  les  lois  qu*exige  cette  infinie  variete  de 
corps  qui  servent  a  la  vision.  Dans  I'oreille,  nous 
trouvons  partout  une  diversite  frappante,  sans  que 
cette  diverse  fabrique  de  I'homme,  des  animaux, 
des  oiseaux,  des  poissons,  produise  differents  usages. 
Toutes  les  oreilles  sont  si  mathematiquement  faites, 
qu'elles  tendent  egalement  au  seul  et  meme  but,  qui 
est  d*entendre.  Le  hasard,  demande  le  deiste, 
serait-il  done  assez  grand  geometre,  pour  varier 
ainsi  a  son  gre  les  ouvrages  dont  on  le  suppose 
auteur,  sans  que  tant  de  diversite  put  Tempecher 
d'atteindre  la  meme  fin  ?  II  objecte  encore  ces  par- 
ties evidemment  contenues  dans  Tanimal  pour  de 
futurs  usages,  le  papillon  dans  la  chenille,  Thomme 
dans  le  ver  spermatique,  un  polype  entier  dans 
chacune  de  ses  parties,  la  valvule  du  trou  ovale, 
le  poumon  dans  le  foetus,  les  dents  dans  leurs  alve- 
oles, les  OS  dans  les  fluides,  qui  s'en  detachent  et  se 
durcissent  d'une  maniere  incomprehensible.  Et 
comme  les  partisans  de  ce  systeme,  loin  de  rien 
negliger  pour  le  faire  valoir,  ne  se  lassent  jamais 
d'accumuler  preuves  sur  preuves,  ils  veulent  pro- 
fiter  de  tout,  et  de  la  faiblesse  meme  de  Tesprit  en 
certain  cas.    Voyez,  disent-ils,  les  Spinoza,  les  Va- 


l'homme  machine. 


53 


nini,  les  Desbarreaux.  les  Boindin,  apotres  qui 
font  plus  d'honneur  que  de  tort  au  deisme !  La  du- 
ree  de  la  sante  de  ces  derniers  a  ete  la  mesure  de 
leur  incredulite :  et  il  est  rare  en  effet,  ajoutent-ils, 
qu'on  n'abjure  pas  Tatheisme,  des  que  les  passions 
se  sont  affaiblies  avec  le  corps  qui  en  est  I'instru- 

ment. 

Voila  certainement  tout  ce  qu'on  peut  dire  de  plus 
favorable  a  I'existence  d*un  Dieu,  quoique  le  der- 
nier argument  soit  frivole,  en  ce  que  ces  conver- 
sions sont  courtes,  Tesprit  reprenant  presque  tou- 
jours  ses  anciennes  opinions  et  se  conduisant  en 
consequence,  des  qu*il  a  recouvre  ou  plutot  retrouve 
ses  forces  dans  celles  du  corps.  En  voila  du  moins 
beaucoup  plus  que  n'en  dit  le  medecin  Diderot  dans 
ses  Pensees  philosophiques,   sublime  ouvrage   qui 
ne  convaincra  pas  un  athee.    Que  repondre  en  effet 
a  un  homme  qui  dit?  "Nous  ne  connaissons  point 
la  nature:  des  causes  cachees  dans  son  sein  pour- 
raient  avoir  tout  produit.     Voyez  a  votre  tour  le 
"polype  de  Trembley!  ne  contient-il  pas  en  soi  les 
"causes  qui  donnent  lieu  a  sa  regeneration?  quelle 
"absurdite  y  aurait-il  done  a  penser  qu'il  est  des 
"causes  physiques  pour  lesquelles  tout  a  ete  fait,  et 
"auxquelles  toute  la  chaine  de  ce  vaste  univers  est 
"si  necessairement  liee  et  assujettie,  que  rien  de  ce 
"qui  arrive  ne  pouvait  pas  ne  pas  arriver ;  des  causes 
"dont  rignorance  absolument  invincible  nous  a  fait 
"recourir  a  un  Dieu,  qui  n'est  pas  meme  un  etre  de 
''raison,  suivant  certains?     Ainsi,  detruire  le  ha- 
"sard,  ce  n*est  pas  prouver  Texistence  d'un  Etre  su- 
"preme,  puisqu'il  peut  y  avoir  autre  chose  qui  ne 
"serait  ni  hasard,  ni  Dieu,  je  veux  dire  la  Nature, 
"dont  Tetude  par  consequent  ne  peut  faire  que  des 


<< 


« 


54 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


w 


"incredules,  comme  le  prouve  la  fagon  de  penser  de 
"tous  ses  plus  heureux  scrutateurs." 

Le  poids  de  Vunivers  n*ebranle  done  pas  un  veri- 
table athee,  loin  de  rScraser;  et  tons  ces  indices 
mille  et  mille  fois  rebattus  d'un  Createur,  indices 
qu'on  met  fort  au-dessus  de  la  faqon  de  penser  dans 
nos  semblables,  ne  sont  evidents,  quelque  loin  qu'on 
pousse  cet  argument,  que  pour  les  Antipyrrhoniens, 
ou  pour  ceux  qui  ont  assez  de  confiance  dans  leur 
raison  pour  croire  pouvoir  juger  sur  certaines  ap- 
parences,  auxquelles,  comme  vous  voyez,  les  athees 
peuvent  en  opposer  d'autres  peut-etre  aussi  fortes 
et  absolument  contraires.  Car  si  nous  ecoutons  en- 
core les  naturalistes,  ils  nous  diront  que  les  memes 
causes  qui  dans  les  mains  d*un  chimiste  et  par  le 
hasard  de  divers  melanges  ont  fait  le  premier  mi- 
roir,  dans  celles  de  la  nature  ont  fait  Teau  pure,  qui 
en  sert  a  la  simple  bergere:  que  le  mouvement  qui 
conserve  le  monde,  a  pu  le  creer;  que  chaque  corps 
a  pris  la  place  que  sa  nature  lui  a  assignee;  que 
Fair  a  dii  entourer  la  terre,  par  la  meme  raison  que 
le  fer  et  les  autres  metaux  sont  I'ouvrage  de  ses 
entrailles;  que  le  soleil  est  une  production  aussi 
naturelle,  que  celle  de  Telectricite ;  qu'il  n'a  pas  plus 
ete  fait  pour  echauffer  la  terre  et  tous  ses  habitants, 
qu'il  brule  quelquefois,  que  la  pluie  pour  faire  pous- 
ser  les  grains,  qu'elle  gate  souvent;  que  le  miroir  et 
reau  n'ont  pas  plus  ete  faits  pour  qu'on  put  s*y  re- 
garder,  que  tous  les  corps  polis  qui  ont  la  meme 
propriete:  que  Toeil  est  a  la  verite  une  espece  de 
trumeau  dans  lequel  Tame  pent  contempler  I'image 
des  objets,  tels  qu'ils  lui  sont  representes  par  ces 
corps :  mais  qu'il  n'est  pas  demontre  que  cet  organe 
ait  ete  reellement   fait  expres   pour  cette   contem- 


l'homme  machine. 


55 


,) 


plation,  ni  expres  place  dans  Torbite;  qu'enfin  il  se 
pourrait  bien  faire  que  Lucrece,  le  medecin  Lamy 
et  tous  les  Epicuriens  anciens  et  modernes  eussent 
raison,  lorsqu'ils  avancent  que  Toeil  ne  voit  que  par 
ce  qu'il  se  trouve  organise,  et  place  comme  il  Test, 
que  posees  une  fois  les  memes  regies  de  mouvement 
que  suit  la  nature  dans  la  generation  et  le  developpe- 
ment  des  corps,  il  n'etait  pas  possible  que  ce  mer- 
veilleux  organe  fut  organise  et  place  autrement. 

Tel  est  le  pour  et  le  contre,  et  I'abrege  des  grandes 
raisons  qui  partageront  eternellement  les  philo- 
sophes.     Je  ne  prends  aucun  parti. 

"Non  nostrum  inter  vos  tantas  componere  lites." 

C'est  ce  que  je  disais  a  un  Franqais  de  mes  amis, 
aussi  franc  Pyrrhonien  que  moi,  homme  de  beau- 
coup  de  merite,  et  digne  d'un  meilleur  sort.  II  me 
fit  a  ce  sujet  une  reponse  fort  singuliere.  II  est 
vrai,  me  dit-il,  que  le  pour  et  le  contre  ne  doit 
point  inquieter  I'ame  d'un  philosophe,  qui  voit  que 
rien  n'est  demontre  avec  assez  de  clarte  pour  forcer 
son  consentement,  et  meme  que  les  idees  indicatives 
qui  s'offrent  d'un  cote,  sont  ausitot  detruites  par 
celles  qui  se  montrent  de  I'autre.  Cependant,  re- 
prit-il,  I'univers  ne  sera  jamais  heureux,  a  moins 
qu'il  ne  soit  athee.  Voici  quelles  etaient  les  raisons 
de  cet  abominable  homme.  Si  I'atheisme,  disait- 
il,  etait  generalement  repandu,  toutes  les  branches 
de  la  religion  seraient  alors  detruites  et  coupees 
par  la  racine.  Plus  de  guerres  theologiques ;  plus 
de  soldats  de  religion;  soldats  terribles!  la  nature 
infectee  d'un  poison  sacre,  reprendrait  ses  droits  et 
sa  purete.  Sourds  a  toute  autre  voix,  les  mortels 
tranquilles  ne  suivraient  que  les  conseils  spontanes 


56 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


V 


de  leur  propre  individu,  les  seuls  qu'on  ne  meprise 
point  impunement  et  qui  peuvent  seuls  nous  conduire 
au  bonheur  par  les  agreables  sentiers  de  la  vertu. 

Telle  est  la  loi  naturelle;  quiconque  en  est  rigide 
observateur,  est  honnete  homme,  et  merite  la  con- 
fiance  de  tout  le  genre  humain.  Quiconque  ne  la 
suit  pas  scrupuleusement,  a  beau  aff  ecter  les  specieux 
dehors  d'une  autre  religion,  est  un  fourbe,  ou  un 
hypocrite  dont  je  me  defie. 

Apres  cela,  qu'un  vain  peuple  pense  differem- 
ment;  qu'il  ose  affirmer  qu'il  y  va  de  la  probite 
meme,  a  ne  pas  croire  la  Revelation;  qu*il  faut  en 
un  mot  un  autre  religion  que  celle  de  la  nature, 
quelle  qu*elle  soit!  quelle  misere!  quelle  pitie!  et  la 
bonne  opinion  que  chacun  nous  donne  de  celle  qu'il 
a  embrassee !  Nous  ne  briguons  point  ici  le  suffrage 
du  vulgaire.  Qui  dresse  dans  son  coeur  des  autels 
a  la  superstition,  est  ne  pour  adorer  des  idoles,  et 
non  pour  sentir  la  ve^tuX 

Mais  puisque  toutesTes  facultes  de  Tame  de- 
pendent tellement  de  la  propre  organisation  du  cer- 
veau  et  de  tout  le  corps,  qu'elles  ne  sont  visiblement 
que  cette  organisation  meme:  voila  une  machine 
bien  eclairee!  car  enfin  quand  I'homme  seul  aurait 
regu  en  partage  la  loi  naturelle,  en  serait-il  moins 
une  machine  ?  Des  roues,  quelques  ressorts  de  plus 
que  dans  les  animaux  les  plus  parfaits,  le  cerveau 
proportionnellement  plus  proche  du  coeur,  et  rece- 
vant  aussi  plus  de  sang,  la  meme  raison  donnee; 
que  sais-je  enfin  ?  des  causes  inconnues  produiraient 
toujours  cette  conscience  delicate,  si  facile  a  blesser, 
ces  remords  qui  ne  sont  pas  plus  etrangers  a  la  ma- 
tiere  que  la  pensee,  et  en  un  mot  toute  la  difference 
qu'on  suppose  ici.    L'organisation  suffirait-elle  done 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


57 


a  tout?  oui,  encore  une  fois.  Puisque  la  pensee  se 
developpe  visiblement  avec  les  organes,  pourquoi  la 
matiere  dont  ils  sont  faits  ne  serait-elle  pas  aussi 
susceptible  de  remords,  quand  une  fois  elle  a  acquis 
avec  le  temps  la  faculte  de  sentir? 

L'ame  n'est  done  qu'un  vain  terme  dont  on  n'a 
point  d'idee,  et  dont  un  bon  esprit  ne  doit  se  servir 
que  pour  nommer  la  partie  qui  pense  en  nous.  Pose 
le  moindre  principe  de  mouvement,  les  corps  animes 
auront  tout  ce  qu'il  leur  faut  pour  se  mouvoir,  sentir, 
penser,  se  repentir,  et  se  conduire  en  un  mot  dans  le 

hysique,  et  dans  le  moral  qui  en  depend. 

C  Nous  ne  supposons  rien;  ceux  qui  croiraient  que 
toutes  les  difficultes  ne  seraient  pas  encore  levees, 
vont  trouver  des  experiences,  qui  acheveront  de  les 
satisfaire. 

1.  Toutes  les  chairs  des  animaux  palpitent  apres 
la  mort,  d'autant  plus  longtemps  que  Tanimal  est 
plus  f  roid  et  transpire  moins :  les  tortues,  les  lezards, 
les  serpents,  etc.  en  font  foi. 

2.  Les  muscles  separes  du  corps,  se  retirent,  lors- 
qu'on  les  pique. 

3.  Les  entrailles  conservent  longtemps  leur  mouve- 
ment peristaltique,  ou  vermiculaire. 

4.  Une  simple  injection  d'eau  chaude  ranime  le 
coeur  et  les  muscles,  suivant  Cowper. 

5.  Le  coeur  de  la  grenouille,  surtout  expose  au 
soleil,  encore  mieux  sur  une  table  ou  une  assiette 
chaude,  se  remue  pendant  une  heure  et  plus,  apres 
avoir  ete  arrache  du  corps.  Le  mouvement  semble- 
t-il  perdu  sans  ressource?  il  n'y  a  qu'a  piquer  le 
coeur,  et  ce  muscle  creux  bat  encore.  Harvey  a 
fait  la  meme  observation  sur  les  erapauds. 

6.  Bacon  de  Verulam,  dans  son  Traite  Sylvch 


58 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


Sylvarum,  parle  d'un  homme  convaincu  de  trahi- 
son,  qu*on  ouvrit  vivant,  et  dont  le  cceur  jete  dans 
Feau  chaude  sauta  a  plusieurs  reprises,  tou jours 
moins  haut,  a  la  distance  perpendiculaire  de  2  pieds. 

7.  Prenez  un  petit  poulet  encore  dans  Toeuf ;  ar- 
rachez  lui  le  coeur;  vous  observerez  les  memes  phe- 
nomenes,  avec  a  peu  pres  les  memes  circonstances. 
La  seule  chaleur  de  I'haleine  ranime  un  animal  pret 
a  perir  dans  la  machine  pneumatique. 

Les  memes  experiences  que  nous  devons  a  Boyle 
et  a  Stenon,  se  font  dans  les  pigeons,  dans  les 
chiens,  dans  les  lapins,  dont  les  morceaux  de  coeur 
se  remuent,  comme  les  cceurs  entiers.  On  voit  le 
meme  mouvement  dans  les  pattes  de  taupe  arrachees. 

8.  La  chenille,  les  vers,  Taraignee,  la  mouche, 
Tanguille  off  rent  les  memes  choses  a  considerer;  et 
le  mouvement  des  parties  coupees  augmente  dans 
Teau  chaude,  a  cause  du  feu  qu'elle  contient. 

9.  Un  soldat  ivre  emporta  d'un  coup  de  sabre 
la  tete  d'un  coq  d'Inde.  Cet  animal  resta  debout, 
ensuite  il  marcha,  courut;  venant  a  rencontrer  une 
muraille,  il  se  tourna,  battit  des  ailes,  en  continuant 
de  courir,  et  tomba  enfin.  Etendu  par  terre,  tous 
les  muscles  de  ce  coq  se  remuaient  encore.  Voila 
ce  que  j*ai  vu,  et  il  est  facile  de  voir  a  peu  pres 
ces  phenomenes  dans  les  petits  chats,  ou  chiens, 
dont  on  a  coupe  la  tete. 

10.  Les  polypes  font  plus  que  de  se  mouvoir, 
apres  la  section ;  ils  se  reproduisent  dans  huit  jours 
en  autant  d'animaux  qu'il  y  a  de  parties  coupees. 
J*en  suis  fache  pour  le  systeme  des  naturalistes  sur 
la  generation,  ou  plutot  j*en  suis  bien  aise;  car  que 
cctte  decouverte  nous  apprend  bien  a  ne  jamais  rien 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


59 


conclure  de  general,  meme  de  toutes  les  experiences 
connues,  et  les  plus  decisives! 

Voila  beaucoup  plus  de  faits  qu'il  n'en  faut,  pour 
prouver  d*une  maniere  incontestable  que  chaque  pe- 
tite fibre,  ou  partie  des  corps  organises,  se  meut  par 
un  principe  qui  lui  est  propre,  et  dont  Taction  ne 
depend  point  des  nerfs,  comme  les  mouvements  vo- 
lontaires,  puisque  les  mouvements  en  question  s'ex- 
ercent  sans  que  les  parties  qui  les  manifestent  aient 
aucun  commerce  avec  la  circulation.  Or,  si  cette 
force  se  fait  remarquer  jusques  dans  des  morceaux 
de  fibres,  le  cceur,  qui  est  un  compose  de  fibres  sin- 
gulierement  entrelacees,  doit  avoir  la  meme  pro- 
priete.  L'histoire  de  Bacon  n'etait  pas  necessaire 
pour  me  le  persuader.  II  m*etait  facile  d'en  juger, 
et  par  la  parfaite  analogic  de  la  structure  du  coeur 
de  I'homme  et  des  animaux ;  et  par  la  masse  meme 
du  premier,  dans  laquelle  ce  mouvement  ne  se  cache 
aux  yeux,  que  parce  qu'il  y  est  etouffe;  et  enfin 
parce  que  tout  est  f roid  et  affaisse  dans  les  cadavres. 
Si  les  dissections  se  faisaient  sur  des  criminels  sup- 
plicies,  dont  les  corps  sont  encore  chauds,  on  ver- 
rait  dans  leur  coeur  les  memes  mouvements  qu*on 
observe  dans  les  muscles  du  visage  des  gens  de- 
capites. 

Tel  est  ce  principe  moteur  des  corps  entiers,  ou 
des  parties  coupees  en  morceaux,  qu*il  produit  des 
mouvements  non  deregles,  comme  on  Ta  cru,  mais 
tres  reguliers,  et  cela,  tant  dans  les  animaux  chauds 
et  parfaits,  que  dans  ceux  qui  sont  froids  et  impar- 
faits.  II  ne  reste  done  aucune  ressource  a  nos  ad- 
versaires,  si  ce  n*est  que  de  nier  mille  et  mille  faits 
que  chacun  pent  facilement  verifier. 

Si  on  me  demande  a  present  quel  est  le  siege  de 


60 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


cette  force  innee  dans  nos  corps,  je  reponds  qu'elle 
reside  tres  clairement  dans  ce  que  les  anciens  ont 
appelle  parenchyme;  c'est  a  dire  dans  la  substance 
propre  des  parties,  abstraction  faite  des  veines,  des 
arteres,  des  nerfs,  en  un  mot  de  I'organisation  de 
tout  le  corps;  et  que  par  consequent  chaque  partie 
contient  en  soi  des  ressorts  plus  ou  moins  vifs,  selon 
le  besoin  qu'elles  en  avaient. 

Entrons  dans  quelque  detail  de  ces  ressorts  de  la 
machine  humaine.  Tous  les  mouvements  vitaux,  ani- 
maux,  naturels  et  automatiques  se  font  par  leur 
action.  N'est-ce  pas  machinalement  que  le  corps 
se  retire,  frappe  de  terreur  a  Taspect  d'un  precipice 
inattendu  ?  que  les  paupieres  se  baissent  a  la  menace 
d'un  coup,  comme  on  Ta  dit?  que  la  pupille  s*etrecit 
au  grand  jour  pour  conserver  la  retine,  et  s'elargit 
pour  voir  les  objets  dans  Tobscurite?  n'est-ce  pas 
machinalement  que  les  pores  de  la  peau  se  ferment 
en  hiver,  pour  que  le  froid  ne  penetre  pas  Tinte- 
rieur  des  vaisseaux?  que  Testomac  se  souleve,  irrite 
par  le  poison,  par  une  certaine  quantite  d*opium, 
par  tous  les  emetiques,  etc.  ?  que  le  cceur,  les  arteres, 
les  muscles  se  contractent  pendant  le  sommeil, 
comme  pendant  la  veille?  que  le  poumon  fait  Tof- 
fice  d*un  souflet  continuellement  exerce  ?  n'est-ce  pas 
machinalement  qu'agissent  tous  les  sphincters  de 
la  vessie,  du  rectum,  etc.?  que  le  coeur  a  une  con- 
traction plus  forte  que  tout  autre  muscle?  que  les 
muscles  erecteurs  font  dresser  la  verge  dans 
rhomme,  comme  dans  les  animaux  qui  s'en  battent 
le  ventre,  et  meme  dans  I'enfant,  capable  d'erection, 
pour  peu  que  cette  partie  soit  irritee  ?  Ce  qui  prouve, 
pour  le  dire  en  passant,  qu'il  est  un  ressort  singulier 
dans  ce  membre,  encore  peu  connu,  et  qui  produit 


L^HOMME  MACHINE. 


61 


des  effets  qu'on  n'a  point  encore  bien  expHques,  mal- 
gre  toutes  les  lumieres  de  Tanatomie. 

Je  ne  m'etendrai  pas  davantage  sur  tous  ces  petits 
ressorts  subalternes  connus  de  tout  le  monde.   Mais 
il  en  est  un  autre  plus  subtil,  et  plus  merveilleux 
qui  les  anime  tous;  il  est  la  source  de  tous  nos 
sentiments,  de  tous  nos  plaisirs,  de  toutes  nos  pas- 
sions, de  toutes  nos  pensees;  car  le  cerveau  a  ses 
muscles  pour  penser,  comme  les  jambes  pour  mar- 
cher.    Je  veux  parler  de  ce  principe  incitant,  et 
impetueux,  qu'Hippocrate  appelle  evop/iwv   (rame). 
Ce  principe  existe,  et  il  a  son  siege  dans  le  cerveau 
a  Torigine  des  nerfs,  par  lesquels  il  exerce  son  em- 
pire sur  tout  le  reste  du  corps.     Par  la  s*explique 
tout  ce  qui  peut  s'expliquer,  jusqu'aux  effets  sur- 
prenants  des  maladies  de  I'imagination. 

Mais,  pour  ne  pas  languir  dans  une  richesse  et 
une  f econdite  mal  entendue,  il  f aut  se  borner  a  un 
petit  nombre  de  questions  et  de  reflexions. 

Pourquoi  la  vue  ou  la  simple  idee  d'une  belle 
femme  nous  cause-t-elle  des  mouvements  et  des  desirs 
singuliers?  Ce  qui  se  passe  alors  dans  certains  or- 
ganes,  vient-il  de  la  nature  meme  de  ces  organes? 
Point  du  tout ;  mais  du  commerce  et  de  Tespece  de 
sympathie  de  ces  muscles  avec  I'imagination,  II  n'y 
a  ici  qu'un  premier  ressort  excite  par  le  bene  placi- 
tum  des  anciens,  ou  par  I'image  de  la  beaute,  qui 
en  excite  un  autre,  lequel  etait  fort  assoupi,  quand 
rimagination  Ta  eveille :  et  comment  cela,  si  ce  n'est 
par  le  desordre  et  le  tumulte  du  sang  et  des  esprits, 
qui  galopent  avec  une  promptitude  extraordinaire, 
et  vont  gonfler  les  corps  caverneux? 

Puisqu'il  est  des  communications  evidentes  entre 


62 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


la  mere  et  I'enfant*,  et  qu'il  est  dur  de  nier  des 
faits  rapportes  par  Tulpius  et  par  d^autres  ecrivains 
aussi  dignes  de  foi  (il  n'y  en  a  point  qui  le  soient 
plus),  nous  croirons  que  c*est  par  la  meme  voie  que  le 
fcetus  ressent  Timpetuosite  de  Timagination  mater- 
nelle,  comme  une  cire  molle  regoit  toutes  sortes 
d*impressions ;  et  que  les  memes  traces,  ou  envies  de 
la  mere,  peuvent  s'imprimer  sur  le  foetus,  sans  que 
cela  puisse  se  comprendre,  quoiqu*en  disent  Blondel 
et  tous  ses  adherents.  Ainsi  nous  faisons  reparation 
d'honneur  au  P.  Malebranche,  beaucoup  trop  raille 
de  sa  credulite  par  les  auteurs  qui  n'ont  point  ob- 
serve d'assez  pres  la  nature  et  ont  voulu  Tassujettir 
a  leur  idees. 

Voyez  le  portrait  de  ce  fameux  Pope,  au  moins 
le  Voltaire  des  Anglais.  Les  efforts,  les  nerfs  de 
son  genie  sont  peints  sur  sa  physionomie;  elle  est 
toute  en  convulsion;  ses  yeux  sortent  de  Torbite, 
ses  sourcils  s*elevent  avec  les  muscles  du  front. 
Pourquoi?  C*est  que  Torigine  des  nerfs  est  en  tra- 
vail et  que  tout  le  corps  doit  se  ressentir  d*une  espece 
d'accouchement  aussi  laborieux.  S'il  n*y  avait  une 
corde  interne  qui  tirat  ainsi  celles  du  dehors,  d'ou 
viendraient  tous  ces  phenomenes?  Admettre  une 
ante,  pour  les  expliquer,  c'est  etre  reduit  a  Yopera- 
Hon  du  St,  Esprit. 

En  effet,  si  ce  qui  pense  en  mon  cerveau  n'est 
pas  une  partie  de  ce  viscere,  et  consequemment  de 
tout  le  corps,  pourquoi,  lorsque  tranquille  dans  mon 
lit  je  forme  le  plan  d'un  ouvrage,  ou  que  je  poursuis 
un  raisonnement  abstrait,  pourquoi  mon  sang 
s'echauffe-t-il  ?    pourquoi  la  fievre  de  mon  esprit 

♦Au  moins  par  les  vaisseaux.  Est-il  sur  qu'il  n*y  en  a  point 
par  les  nerfs  ? 


L^HOMME  MACHINE. 


63 


passe-t-elle  dans  mes  veines?     Demandez-le    aux 
hommes  d'imagination,  aux  grandes  poetes,  a  ceux 
qu'un  sentiment  bien  rendu  ravit,  qu*un  gout  exquis. 
que  les  charmes  de  la  nature,  de  la  verite  ou  de  la 
vertu  transportent !    Par  leur  enthousiasme,  par  ce 
qu'ils  vous  diront  avoir  eprouve,  vous  jugerez  de  la 
cause  par  les  effets :  par  cette  harmonie  que  Borelli, 
qu'un  seul  anatomiste  a  mieux  connue  que  tous  les 
Leibniziens,  vous  connaitrez  Tunite  materielle  de 
rhomme.    Car  enfin  si  la  tension  des  nerfs  qui  fait 
la  douleur,  cause  la  fievre,  par  laquelle  Tesprit  est 
trouble  et  n'a  plus  de  volonte ;  et  que  reciproquement 
Tesprit  trop  exerce  trouble  le  corps,  et  allume  ce 
feu  de  consomption  qui  a  enleve  Bayle  dans  un  age 
si  peu  avance ;  si  telle  titillation  me  fait  vouloir,  me 
force  de  desirer  ardemment  ce  dont  je  ne  me  sou- 
ciais  nullement  le  moment  d'auparavant ;  si  a  leur 
tour  certaines  traces  du  cerveau  excitent  le  meme 
prurit  et  les  memes  desirs,  pourquoi  faire  double 
ce  qui  n'est  evidemment  qu'un  ?    C*est  en  vain  qu'on 
se  recrie  sur  Tempire  de  la  volonte.    Pour  un  ordre 
qu'elle  donne,  elle  subit  cent  fois  le  joug.    Et  quelle 
merveille  que  le  corps  obeisse  dan  Tetat  sain,  puis- 
qu'un  torrent  de  sang  et  d'esprits  vient  Ty  forcer, 
la  volonte  ayant  pour  ministres  une  legion  invisible 
de  fluides  plus  vifs  que  Teclair,  et  toujours  prets  a 
la  servir !    Mais  comme  c'est  par  les  nerfs  que  son 
pouvoir  s'exerce,  c'est  aussi  par  eux  qu'il  est  arrete. 
La  meilleure  volonte  d'un  amant  epuise,  les  plus 
violents  desirs  lui  rendront-ils  sa  vigueur  perdue? 
Helas !  non ;  et  elle  en  sera  la  premiere  punie,  parce- 
que,  posees  certaines  circonstances,  il  n'est  pas  dans 
sa  puissance  de  ne  pas  vouloir  du  plaisir.    Ce  que 
j'ai  dit  de  la  paralysie,  etc.  revient  ici. 


64 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


65 


La  jaunisse  vous  surprend !  ne  savez  vous  pas  que 
la  couleur  des  corps  depend  de  celle  des  verres  au 
travers  desquels  on  les  regarde!  Ignorez-vous  que 
telle  est  la  teinte  des  humeurs,  telle  est  celle  des 
objets,  au  moins  par  rapport  a  nous,  vains  jouets 
de  mille  illusions  ?  Mais  otez  cette  teinte  de  Thumeur 
aqueuse  de  Toeil ;  faites  couler  la  bile  par  son  tamis 
naturel:  alors  Tame  ayant  d'autres  yeux,  ne  verra 
plus  jaune.  N'est  ce  pas  encore  ainsi  qu*en  abattant 
la  cataracte,  ou  en  injectant  le  canal  d'Eustachi, 
on  rend  la  vue  aux  aveugles,  et  Touie  aux  sourds? 
Combien  de  gens  qui  n'etaient  peut-etre  que  d'ha- 
biles  charlatans  dans  des  siecles  ignorants,  ont  passe 
pour  faire  de  grands  miracles!  La  belle  ame  et  la 
puissante  volonte,  qui  ne  pent  agir  qu'autant  que  les 
dispositions  du  corps  le  lui  permettent,  et  dont  les 
gouts  changent  avec  Tage  et  la  fievre !  Faut-il  done 
s'etonner  si  les  philosophes  ont  toujours  eu  en  vue 
la  sante  du  corps  pour  conserver  celle  de  Tame, 
si  Pythagore  a  aussi  soigneusement  ordonne  la 
diete,  que  Platon  a  defendu  le  vin?  Le  regime  qui 
convient  au  corps,  est  toujours  celui  par  lequel  les 
medecins  senses  pretendent  qu'on  doit  preluder, 
lorsqu*il  s'agit  de  former  Tesprit,  de  Telever  a  la 
connaissance  de  la  verite  et  de  la  vertu;  vains  sons 
dans  le  desordre  des  maladies  et  le  tumulte  des 
sens!  Sans  les  preceptes  de  Thygiene,  Epictete, 
Socrate,  Platon,  etc.  prechent  en  vain :  toute  morale 
est  infructueuse,  pour  qui  n'a  pas  la  sobriete  en 
partage :  c'est  la  source  de  toutes  les  vertus  comme 
rintemperance  est  celle  de  tous  les  vices. 

En  faut-il  davantage  (et  pourquoi  irais-je  me 
perdre  dans  Thistoire  des  passions,  qui  toutes  s'ex- 
pliquent  par  Vcvopfuav  d'Hippocrate)  pour  prouver 


que  Thomme  n'est  qu'un  animal,  ou  un  assemblage 
de  ressorts,  qui  tous  se  montent  les  uns  par  les  autres, 
sans  qu'on  puisse  dire  par  quel  point  du  cercle  hu- 
main  la  nature  a  commence?  Si  ces  ressorts  different 
entr'eux,  ce  n'est  done  que  par  leur  siege  et  par 
quelques  degres  de  force,  et  jamais  par  leur  nature ; 
et  par  consequent  Tame  n*est  qu*un  principe  de 
mouvement,  ou  une  partie  materielle  sensible  du 
cerveau,  qu'on  pent,  sans  craindre  I'erreur,  regarder 
comme  un  ressort  principal  de  toute  la  machine,  qui 
a  une  influence  visible  sur  tous  les  autres,  et  meme 
parait  avoir  ete  fait  le  premier ;  en  sorte  que  tous  les 
autres  n'en  seraient  qu'une  emanation,  comme  on  le 
verra  par  quelques  observations  que  je  rapporterai 
et  qui  ont  ete  faites  sur  divers  embryons. 

Cette  oscillation  naturelle,  ou  propre  a  notre  ma- 
chine, et  dont  est  douee  chaque  fibre,  et,  pour  ainsi 
dire,  chaque  element  fibreux,  semblable  a  celle  d'une 
pendule,  ne  pent  toujours  s'exercer.  II  faut  la  re- 
nouveler,  a  mesure  qu'elle  se  perd;  lui  donner  des 
forces,  quand  elle  languit;  Taffaiblir,  lorsqu*elle  est 
opprimee  par  un  exces  de  force  et  de  vigueur.  C'est 
en  cela  seul  que  la  vraie  medecine  consiste. 

Le  corps  n*est  qu'une  horloge,  dont  le  nouveau 
chyle  est  Thorloger.  Le  premier  soin  de  la  nature, 
quand  il  entre  dans  le  sang,  c'est  d'y  exciter  une 
sorte  de  fievre,  que  les  chimistes,  qui  ne  revent  que 
foumeaux,  ont  du  prendre  pour  une  fermentation. 
Cette  fievre  procure  une  plus  grande  filtration 
d'esprits,  qui  machinalement  vont  animer  les  mus- 
cles et  le  coeur,  comme  s'ils  y  etaient  envoyes  par 
ordre  de  la  volonte. 

Ce  sont  done  les  causes  ou  les  forces  de  la  vie 
qui  entretiennent  ainsi  durant  100  ans  le  mouve- 


66 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


ment  perpetuel  des  solides  et  des  fluides,  aussi  neces- 
saire  aux  uns  qu'aux  autres.  Mais  qui  peut  dire 
si  les  solides  contribuent  a  ce  jeu,  plus  que  les 
fluides,  et  vice  versa?  Tout  ce  qu*on  sait,  c'est  que 
Taction  des  premiers  serait  bientot  aneantie,  sans  le 
secours  des  seconds.  Ce  sont  les  liqueurs  qui  par 
leur  choc  eveillent  et  conservent  I'elasticite  des  vais- 
seaux,  de  laquelle  depend  leur  propre  circulation. 
De  la  vient  qu'apres  la  mort  le  ressort  naturel  de 
chaque  substance  est  plus  ou  moins  fort  encore  sui- 
vant  les  restes  de  la  vie,  auxquels  il  survit,  pour  ex- 
pirer  le  dernier.  Tant  il  est  vrai  que  cette  force  des 
parties  animales  peut  bien  se  conserver  et  s'aug- 
menter  par  celle  de  la  circulation,  mais  qu'elle  n*en 
depend  point,  puisqu'elle  se  passe  meme  de  I'inte- 
grite  de  chaque  membre,  ou  viscere,  comme  on  I'a 
vu. 

Je  n'ignore  pas  que  cette  opinion  n'a  pas  ete 
goutee  de  tons  les  savants,  et  que  Stahl  surtout  Ta 
fort  dedaignec.  Ce  grand  chimiste  a  voulu  nous 
persuader  que  Tame  etait  la  seule  cause  de  tons  nos 
mouvements.  Mais  c'est  parler  en  fanatique,  et  non 
en  philosophe. 

Pour  detruire  Thypothese  Stahlienne,  il  ne  faut 
pas  faire  tant  d'efforts  que  je  vois  qu*on  en  a  faits 
avant  moi.  II  n'y  a  qu*a  jeter  les  yeux  sur  un 
joueur  de  violon.  Quelle  souplesse!  Quelle  agilite 
dans  les  doigts!  Les  mouvements  sont  si  prompts, 
qu'il  ne  parait  presque  pas  y  avoir  de  succession. 
Or,  je  prie,  ou  plutot  je  defie  les  Stahliens  de  me 
dire,  eux  qui  connaissent  si  bien  tout  ce  que  peut 
notre  ame,  comment  il  serait  possible  qu'elle  exe- 
cutat  si  vite  tant  de  mouvements,  des  mouvements 
qui  se  passent  si  loin  d'elle,  et  en  tant  d*endroits 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


67 


divers.  C'est  supposer  un  joueur  de  flute  qui  pour- 
rait  faire  de  brillantes  cadences  sur  une  infinite  de 
trous  qu'il  ne  connaitrait  pas,  et  auxquels  il  ne 
pourrait  seulement  pas  appliquer  le  doigt. 

Mais  disons  avec  Mr.  Hecquet  qu*il  n'est  pas  per- 
mis  a  tout  le  monde  d'aller  a  Corinthe.  Et  pourquoi 
Stahl  n*aurait-il  pas  ete  encore  plus  favorise  de  la 
nature  en  qualite  d'homme,  qu*en  qualite  de  chi- 
miste et  de  praticien?  II  fallait  (heureux  mortel!) 
qu*il  eut  regu  une  autre  ame  que  le  reste  des 
hommes;  une  ame  souveraine,  qui  non  contente 
d*avoir  quelque  empire  sur  les  muscles  volontaires, 
tenait  sans  peine  les  renes  de  tous  les  mouvements 
du  corps,  pouvait  les  suspendre,  les  calmer,  ou  les 
exciter  a  son  gre.  Avec  une  maitresse  aussi  despo- 
tique,  dans  les  mains  de  laquelle  etaient  en  quelque 
sorte  les  battements  du  coeur  et  les  lois  de  la  circu- 
lation, point  de  fievre  sans  doute ;  point  de  douleur ; 
point  de  langueur;  ni  honteuse  impuissance,  ni  fa- 
cheux  priapisme.  L'ame  veut,  et  les  ressorts  jouent, 
se  dressent,  ou  se  debandent.  Comment  ceux  de  la 
machine  de  Stahl  se  sont-ils  sitot  detraques?  Qui 
a  chez  soi  un  si  grand  medecin,  devrait  etre  im- 
mortel. 

Stahl,  au  reste,  n'est  pas  le  seul  qui  ait  rejete 
le  principe  d'oscillation  des  corps  organises.  De 
plus  grands  esprits  ne  Tout  pas  employe,  lorsqu'ils 
ont  voulu  expliquer  Taction  du  coeur,  Terection  du 
penis,  etc.  II  n*y  a  qu*a  lire  les  Institutions  de  mede- 
cine  de  Boerhaave,  pour  voir  quels  laborieux  et 
seduisants  systemes,  f aute  d'admettre  une  force  aussi 
frappante  dans  tous  les  corps,  ce  grand  homme  a 
ete  oblige  d'enfanter  a  la  sueur  de  son  puissant 
genie. 


68 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


Willis  et  Perrault,  esprits  d*une  plus  f aible  trempe, 
mais  observateurs  assidus  de  la  nature,  que  le  fa- 
meux  professeur  de  Leyde  n'a  connue  que  par  autrui 
et  n'a  eue,  pour  ainsi  dire,  que  de  la  seconde  main, 
paraissent  avoir  mieux  aime  supposer  une  ame  ge- 
neralement  repandue  par  tout  le  corps,  que  le  prin- 
cipe  dont  nous  parlous.  Mais  dans  cette  hypothese 
qui  fut  celle  de  Virgile  et  de  tous  les  Epicuriens, 
hypothese  que  Thistoire  du  polype  semblerait  fa- 
voriser  a  la  premiere  vue,  les  mouvements  qui  sur- 
vivent  au  su jet  dans  lequel  ilssont  inherents  viennent 
d'un  reste  d'dme,  que  conservent  encore  les  parties 
qui  se  contractent,  sans  etre  desormais  irritees  par 
le  sang  et  les  esprits.  D'ou  Ton  voit  que  ces  ecri- 
vains  dont  les  ouvrages  solides  eclipsent  aisement 
toutes  les  fables  philosophiques,  ne  se  sont  trompes 
que  sur  le  modele  de  ceux  qui  ont  donne  a  la  ma- 
tiere  la  faculte  de  penser,  je  veux  dire,  pour  s'etre 
mal  exprimes,  en  termes  obscurs,  et  qui  ne  signifient 
rien.  En  effet,  qu'est  ce  que  ce  reste  d'dme,  si  ce 
n'est  la  force  motrice  des  Leibniziens,  mal  rendue 
par  une  telle  expression,  et  que  cependant  Perrault 
surtout  a  veritablement  entrevue.  Voy.  son  Traite 
de  la  Mecanique  des  Animaux, 

A  present  qu'il  est  clairement  demontre  contre 
les  Cartesiens,  les  Stahliens,  les  Malebranchistes,  et 
les  theologiens  peu  dignes  d'etre  ici  places,  que  la 
matiere  se  meut  par  elle-meme,  non  seulement  lors- 
qu'elle  est  organisee,  comme  dans  un  coeur  entier, 
par  exemple,  mais  lors  meme  que  cette  organisation 
est  detruite,  la  curiosite  de  Thomme  voudrait  savoir 
comment  un  corps,  par  cela  meme  qu'il  est  origi- 
nairement  doue  d'un  souffle  de  vie,  se  trouve  en 
consequence  orne  de  la  faculte  de  sentir,  et  enfin  par 


l'homme  machine. 


69 


celle-ci  de  la  pensee.  Et  pour  en  venir  a  bout,  6 
bon  Dieu,  quels  efforts  n'ont  pas  faits  certains  phi- 
losophes!  et  quel  galimatias  j'ai  eu  la  patience  de 
lire  a  ce  sujet! 

Tout  ce  que  Texperience  nous  apprend,  c'est  que 
tant  que  le  mouvement  subsiste,  si  petit  qu'il  soit 
dans  une  ou  plusieurs  fibres,  il  n'y  a  qu'a  les  piquer, 
pour  reveiller,  animer  ce  mouvement  presque  eteint, 
comme  on  Ta  vu  dans  cette  foule  d*experiences  dont 
j'ai  voulu  accabler  les  systemes.  II  est  done  constant 
que  le  mouvement  et  le  sentiment  s'excitent  tour  a 
tour,  et  dans  les  corps  entiers,  et  dans  les  memes 
corps  dont  la  structure  est  detruite;  pour  ne  rien 
dire  de  certaines  plantes  qui  semblent  nous  offrir 
les  memes  phenomenes  de  la  reunion  du  sentiment 
et  du  mouvement. 

Mais  de  plus,  combien  d'excellents  philosophes  ont 
demontre  que  la  pensee  n*est  qu'une  faculte  de  sen- 
tir, et  que  Tame  raisonnable  n'est  que  Tame  sensi- 
tive appliquee  a  contempler  les  idees,  et  a  raisonner ! 
Ce  qui  serait  prouve  par  cela  seul  que  lorsque  le  sen- 
timent est  eteint,  la  pensee  Test  aussi,  comme  dans 
Tapoplexie,  la  lethargic,  la  catalepsie,  etc.  Car 
ceux  qui  ont  avance  que  Tame  n*avait  pas  moins 
pense  dans  les  maladies  soporeuses,  quoiqu'elle  ne 
se  souvint  pas  des  idees  qu'elle  avait  cues,  ont  sou- 
tenu  une  chose  ridicule. 

Pour  ce  qui  est  de  ce  developpement,  c'est  une 
folic  de  perdre  le  temps  a  en  rechercher  le  mecanisme. 
La  nature  du  mouvement  nous  est  aussi  inconnue 
que  celle  de  la  matiere.  Le  moyen  de  decouvrir  com- 
ment il  s'y  produit,  a  moins  que  de  ressusciter  avec 
Tauteur  de  rHistoire  de  VAme  Tancienne  et  inin- 
telligible  doctrine  des  formes  substantiellesl  Je  suis 


70 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


done  aussi  console  d'ignorer  comment  la  matiere, 
d'inerte  et  simple,  devient  active  et  composee  d'or- 
ganes,  que  de  ne  pouvoir  regarder  le  soleil  sans 
verre  rouge:  et  je  suis  d'aussi  bonne  composition 
sur  les  autres  merveilles  incomprehensibles  de  la 
nature,  sur  la  production  du  sentiment  et  de  la 
pensee  dans  un  etre  qui  ne  paraissait  autrefois  a 
nos  yeux  homes  qu'un  peu  de  boue. 

Qu'on  m'accorde  seulement  que  la  matiere  or- 
ganisee  est  douee  d'un  principe  moteur,  qui  seul 
la  differencie  de  celle  qui  ne  Test  pas  (eh!  peut-on 
rien  refuser  a  Tobservation  la  plus  incontestable?) 
et  que  tout  depend  dans  les  animaux  de  la  diversite 
de  cette  organisation,  comme  je  Tai  assez  prouve; 
e'en  est  assez  pour  deviner  I'enigme  des  substances 
et  celle  de  Thomme.  On  voit  qu'il  n'y  en  a  qu'une 
dans  Tunivers  et  que  Thomme  est  la  plus  parfaite. 
II  est  au  singe,  aux  animaux  les  plus  spirituels, 
ce  que  le  pendule  planetaire  de  Huygens  est  a  une 
montre  de  Julien  le  Roi.  S'il  a  fallu  plus  d'instru- 
ments,  plus  de  rouages,  plus  de  ressorts  pour  mar- 
quer  les  mouvements  des  planetes,  que  pour  marquer 
les  heures,  ou  les  repeter;  s*il  a  fallu  plus  d'art  a 
Vaucanson  pour  faire  son  Fluteur,  que  pour  son 
Canard,  il  eut  du  en  employer  encore  davantage 
pour  faire  un  Parleur ;  machine  qui  ne  pent  plus  etre 
regardee  comme  impossible,  surtout  entre  les  mains 
d'un  nouveau  Promethee.  II  etait  done  de  meme 
necessaire  que  la  nature  employat  plus  d*art  et 
d*appareil  pour  faire  et  entretenir  une  machine,  qui 
pendant  un  siecle  entier  put  marquer  tous  les  batte- 
ments  du  coeur  et  de  Tesprit ;  car  si  on  n*en  voit  pas 
au  pouls  les  heures,  c*est  du  moins  le  barometre  de 
la  chaleur  et  de  la  vivacite,  par  laquelle  on  peut 


l'homme  machine. 


71 


juger  de  la  nature  de  Tame.  Je  ne  me  trompe 
point,  le  corps  humain  est  une  horloge,  mais  im- 
mense, et  construite  avec  tant  d*artifice  et  d'habilete, 
que  si  la  roue  qui  sert  a  marquer  les  secondes  vient 
a  s'arreter,  celle  des  minutes  toume  et  va  tou jours 
son  train,  comme  la  roue  des  quarts  continue  de 
se  mouvoir ;  et  ainsi  des  autres,  quand  les  premieres, 
rouillees,  ou  derangees  par  quelque  cause  que  ce 
soit,  ont  interrompu  leur  marche.  Car  n'est-ce  pas 
ainsi  que  Tobstruction  de  quelques  vaisseaux  ne 
suffit  pas  pour  detruire,  ou  suspendre  le  fort  des 
mouvements,  qui  est  dans  le  coeur,  comme  dans  la 
piece  ouvriere  de  la  machine;  puisqu'au  contraire 
les  fluides  dont  le  volume  est  diminue,  ayant  moins 
de  chemin  a  faire,  le  parcourent  d'autant  plus  vite, 
emportes  comme  par  un  nouveau  courant,  que  la 
force  du  coeur  s'augmente  en  raison  de  la  resistance 
qu'il  trouve  a  Textremite  des  vaisseaux?  Lorsque 
le  nerf  optique  seul  comprime  ne  laisse  plus  passer 
rimage  des  objets,  n'est-ce  pas  ainsi  que  la  priva- 
tion de  la  vue  n'empeche  pas  plus  Tusage  de  Touie, 
que  la  privation  de  ce  sens,  lorsque  les  fonctions  de 
la  portion  molle  sont  interdites,  ne  suppose  celle 
de  Tautre?  N'est-ce  pas  ainsi  encore  que  Tun  entend, 
sans  pouvoir  dire  qu'il  entend  (si  ce  n'est  apres 
Tattaque  du  mal)  et  que  Tautre  qui  n'entend  rien, 
mais  dont  les  nerfs  linguaux  sont  libres  dans  le 
cerveau,  dit  machinalement  tous  les  reves  qui  lui 
passent  par  la  tete?  Phenomenes  qui  ne  surprennent 
point  les  medecins  eclaires.  lis  savent  a  quoi  s'en 
tenir  sur  la  nature  de  Thomme;  et  pour  le  dire  en 
passant:  de  deux  medecins,  le  meilleur,  celui  qui 
merite  le  plus  de  confiance,  c'est  toujours,  a  mon 
avis,  celui  qui  est  le  plus  verse  dans  la  physique. 


i> 


'!! 


72 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


ou  la  mecanique  du  corps  humain,  et  qui  laissant 
rame  et  toutes  les  inquietudes  que  cette  chimere 
donne  aux  sots  et  aux  ignorans,  n*est  occupe  seri- 
eusement  que  du  pur  naturalisme. 

Laissons  done  le  pretendu  Mr.  Charp  se  moquer 
des  philosophes  qui  ont  regarde  les  animaux,  comme 
des  machines.  Que  je  pense  differemment !  Je  crois 
que  Descartes  serait  un  homme  respectable  a  tous 
egards,  si,  ne  dans  un  siecle  qu'il  n'eut  pas  du  eclairer, 
il  eut  connu  le  prix  de  Texperience  et  de  Tobser- 
vation,  et  le  danger  de  s'en  ecarter.  Mais  il  n*est 
pas  moins  juste  que  je  fasse  ici  une  authentique  re- 
paration a  ce  grand  homme,  pour  tous  ces  petits 
philosophes  mauvais  plaisants,  et  mauvais  singes  de 
Locke,  qui,  au  lieu  de  rire  impudemment  au  nez  de 
Descartes,  feraient  mieux  de  sentir  que  sans  lui  le 
champ  de  la  philosophic,  comme  celui  du  bon  esprit 
sans  Newton,  serait  peut  etre  encore  en  friche. 

II  est  vrai  que  ce  celebre  philosophe  s'est  beau- 
coup  trompe,  et  personne  n'en  disconvient.  Mais 
enfin  il  a  connu  la  nature  animale;  il  a  le  premier 
parfaitement  demontre  que  les  animaux  etaient  de 
pures  machines.  Or,  apres  une  decouverte  de  cette 
importance  et  qui  suppose  autant  de  sagacite,  le 
moyen,  sans  ingratitude,  de  ne  pas  faire  grace  a 
toutes  ses  erreurs! 

Elles  sont  a  mes  yeux  toutes  reparees  par  ce  grand 
aveu.  Car  enfin,  quoiqu'il  chante  sur  la  distinction 
des  deux  substances,  il  est  visible  que  ce  n*est  qu*un 
tour  d'adresse,  une  ruse  de  style,  pour  faire  avaler 
aux  theologiens  un  poison  cache  a  Tombre  d'une 
analogic  qui  frappe  tout  le  monde,  et  qu*eux  seuls 
ne  voient  pas.  Car  c*est  elle,  c'est  cette  forte 
analogic  qui  force  tous  les  savants  et  les  vrais  juges 


I 
I 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


73 


d  avouer  que  ces  etres  fiers  et  vains,  plus  distingues 
par  leur  orgueil  que  par  le  nom  d'hommes,  quelque 
envie  qu  ils  aient  de  s'elever,  ne  sont  au  fond  que 
des  animaux  et  des  machines  perpendiculairement 
rampantes.    Elles  ont  toutes  ce  merveilleux  instinct, 
dont  1  education  fait  de  I'esprit,  et  qui  a  toujours 
son  siege  dans  le  cerveau,  et  a  son  defaut,  comme 
iorsqu  il  manque  ou  est  ossifie,  dans  la  moelle  allon- 
gee,  et  jamais  dans  le  cervelet;  car  je  I'ai  vu  con- 
siderablement  blesse,  d'autres*  I'ont  trouve  squir- 
reux.  sans  que  I'ame  cessat  de  faire  ses  fonctions. 
iitre  machine,  sentir.  penser,  savoir  distinguer  le 
bien  du  mal,  comme  le  bleu  du  jaune,  en  un  mot 
etre  ne  avec  de  1 'intelligence  et  un  instinct  sur  de 
morale,  et  n'etre  qu'un  animal,  sont  done  des  choses 
qui  ne  sont  pas  plus  contradictoires    qu'etre    un 
singe   ou   un   perroquet   et   savoir  se   donner   du 
piaisir.     Car,  puisque  I'occasion  se  presente  de  le 
dire   qui  eut  jamais  devine  d  priori  qu'une  goutte 
de  la  hqueur  qui  se  lance  dans  I'accouplement  fit 
ressentir  des  plaisirs  divins,  et  qu'il  en  naitrait  une 
petite  creature,  qui  pourrait  un  jour,  posees  cer- 
tames  lois,  jouir  des  memes  delices?    Je  crois  la 
pensee  si  peu  incompatible  avec  la  matiere  organisee, 
qu  e  le  semble  en  etre  une  propriete,  telle  que  I'elec- 
tncite,  la  faculte  motrice.  I'impenetrabilite,  I'eten- 
due,  etc. 

Voulez  vous  de  nouvelles  observations?  En  voici 
qu.  sont  sans  replique  et  qui  prouvent  toutes  que 
1  homme  ressemble  parfaitement  aux  animaux  dans 
son  origine,  comme  dans  tout  ce  que  nous  avons 
deja  cru  essentiel  de  comparer. 

J'en  appelle  a  la  bonne  foi  de  nos  observateurs. 

*  Haller  dans  les  Transact.  Philosoph. 


\ 


> 


74 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


Qu'ils  nous  disent  s'il  n'est  pas  vrai  que  I'homme 
dans  son  principe  n'est  qu'un    ver,    qui    devient 
homme,  comme  la    chenille    papillon.     Les    plus 
graves*  auteurs  nous  ont  appris  comment  il  faut 
s'y  prendre  pour  voir  cet  animalcule.     Tons  les 
curieux  I'ont  vu,  comme  Hartsoeker,  dans  la  se-  ^ 
mence  de  I'homme,  et  non  dans  celle  de  la  f emme ;  ^ 
il  nV  a  que  les  sots  qui  s'en  soient  fait  scrupule. 
Comme  chaque  goutte  de  sperme  contient  une  infinite 
de  ces  petits  vers  lorsqu*ils  sont  lances  a  I'ovaire, 
il  nV  a  que  le  plus  adroit,  ou  le  plus  vigoureux  qui 
ait  la  force  de  s'insinuer  et  de  s'implanter  dans  Toeuf 
que  fournit  la  femme,  et  qui  lui  donne  sa  premiere 
nourriture.^  Cet  oeuf,  quelquefois  surpris  dans^  les 
trompes  de  Fallope,  est  porte  par  ces  canaux  a  la 
matrice,  ou  il  prend  racine,  comme  un  grain  de  ble 
dans  la  terre.     Mais  quoiqu'il  y  devienne  monstru- 
eux  par  sa  croissance  de  9  mois,  il  ne  differe  point 
des  oeufs  des  autres  femelles,  si  ce  n'est  que  sa  peau 
(Vamnios)  ne  se  durcit  jamais,  et  se  dilate  prodi- 
gieusement,  comme  on  en  pent  juger  en  comparant 
les  foetus  trouves  en  situation  et  pres  d'eclore  (ce 
que  j'ai  eu  le  plaisir  d'observer  dans  une  femme 
morte    un   moment    avant    Taccouchement),    avec 
d'autres  petits  embryons  tres  proches  de  leur  ori- 
gine:  car  alors  c'est  toujours  Tceuf  dans  sa  coque, 
et  ranimal  dans  Toeuf,  qui,  gene  dans  ses  mouve- 
ments,  cherche  machinalement  a  voir  le  jour  ;^  et  pour 
y  reussir,  il  commence  par  rompre  avec  la  tete  cette 
membrane,  d'ou  il  sort,  comme  le  poulet,  Toiseau, 
etc.,  de  la  leur.    J'ajouterai  une  observation  que  je 
ne  trouve  nulle  part;  c'est  que  V amnios  n'tn  est  pas 
plus  mince,  pour  s'etre  prodigieusement  etendu; 
♦  Boerhaave,  Inst,  Med,  et  tant  d'autres. 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


75 


semblable  en  cela  a  la  matrice  dont  la  substance 
meme  se  gonfle  de  sues  infiltres,  independamment 
de  la  repletion  et  du  deploiement  de  tons  ses  coudes 
vasculeux. 

Voyons  I'homme  dans  et  hors  de  sa  coque;  exa- 
minons  avec  un  microscope  les  plus  jeunes  em- 
bryons, de  4,  de  6,  de  8  ou  de  15  jours;  apres  ce 
temps  les  yeux  suffisent.  Que  voit-on  ?  la  tete  seule ; 
un  petit  ceuf  rond  avec  deux  points  noirs  qui 
marquent  les  yeux.  Avant  ce  temps,  tout  etant  plus 
informe,  on  n'apergoit  qu'une  pulpe  medullaire,  qui 
est  le  cerveau,  dans  lequel  se  forme  d'abord  I'origine 
des  nerfs,  ou  le  principe  du  sentiment,  et  le  coeur 
qui  a  deja  par  lui-meme  dans  cette  pulpe  la  faculte 
de  battre :  c'est  le  punctum  saliens  de  Malpighi,  qui 
doit  peut-etre  deja  une  partie  de  sa  vivacite  a  Tin- 
fluence  des  nerfs.  Ensuite  peu-a-peu  on  voit  la 
tete  allonger  le  col,  qui  en  se  dilatant  forme  d'abord 
le  thorax,  ou  le  coeur  a  deja  descendu,  pour  s'y 
fixer;  apres  quoi  vient  le  bas  ventre  qu'une  cloison 
(le  diaphragme)  separe.  Ces  dilatations  donnent 
Tune,  les  bras,  les  mains,  les  doigts,  les  ongles,  et  les 
poils;  I'autre  les  cuisses,  les  jambes,  les  pieds,  etc., 
avec  la  seule  difference  de  situation  qu*on  leur  con- 
nait,  qui  fait  Tappui  et  le  balancier  du  corps.'  C'est 
une  vegetation  frappante.  Ici,  ce  sont  des  cheveux 
qui  couvrent  le  sommet  de  nos  tetes ;  la,  ce  sont  des 
,_j^illes  et  des  fleurs. '  Partout  brille  le  meme  luxe 
de  la  nature;  et  enfin  Tesprit  recteur  des  plantes 
est  place  oij  nous  avons  notre  ame,  cette  autre 
quintessence  de  I'homme. 

Telle  est  I'uniformite  de  la  nature  qu'on  com- 
mence a  sentir,  et  I'analogie  du  regne  animal  et 
vegetal,  de  I'homme  a  la  plante.     Peut-etre  meme 


76 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


y  a-t-il  des  plantes  animal,  c'est-a-dire  qui  en  vege- 
tant,  ou  se  battent  comme  les  polypes,  ou  font  d'au- 
tres  fonctions  propres  aux  animaux? 

Voila  a  peu  pres  tout  ce  qu*on  sait  de  la  genera- 
tion. Que  les  parties  qui  s'attirent,  qui  sont  faites 
pour  s'unir  ensemble  et  pour  occuper  telle  ou  telle 
place,  se  reunissent  toutes  suivant  leur  nature;  et 
qu'ainsi  se  forment  les  yeux,  le  coeur,  Testomac  et 
enfin  tout  le  corps,  comme  de  grands  hommes  Tout  i 
ecrit,  cela  est  possible.  Mais,  comme  Texperience 
nous  abandonne  au  milieu  des  ces  subtilites,  je  ne 
supposerai  rien,  regardant  tout  ce  qui  ne  frappe 
pas  mes  sens  comme  un  mystere  impenetrable.  II 
est  si  rare  que  les  deux  semences  se  rencontrent 
dans  le  congres,  que  je  serais  tente  de  croire  que 
la  semence  de  la  femme  est  inutile  a  la  generation.  ^ 

Mais  comment  en  expliquer  les  phenomenes,  sans 
ce  commode  rapport  de  parties,  qui  rend  si  bien  rai- 
son  des  ressemblances  des  en  f ants,  tantot  au  pere, 
et  tantot  a  la  mere?  D'un  autre  cote,  Tembarras  d'une 
explication  doit-elle  contrebalancer  un  fait?  II  me 
parait  que  c'est  le  male  qui  fait  tout,  dans  une 
femme  qui  dort,  comme  dans  la  plus  lubrique. 
L'arrangement  des  parties  serait  done  fait  de  toute 
etemite  dans  le  germe,  ou  dans  le  ver  meme  de 
Thomme.  Mais  tout  ceci  est  fort  au-dessus  de  la 
portee  des  plus  excellents  observateurs.  Comme  ils 
n'y  peuvent  rien  saisir,  ils  ne  peuvent  pas  plus  juger 
de  la  mecanique  de  la  formation  et  du  developpe- 
ment  des  corps,  qu'une  taupe  du  chemin  qu*un  cerf 
pent  parcourir. 

Nous  sommes  de  vraies  taupes  dans  le  champ 
de  la  nature;  nous  ny  faisons  gueres  que  le  trajet 
de  cet  animal;  et  c'est  notre  orgueil  qui  donne  des 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


77 


<( 


(( 


a 


ii 


bomes  a  ce  qui  n'en  a  point.  Nous  sommes  dans 
le  cas  d'une  montre  qui  dirait:  (un  fabuliste  en 
ferait  un  personnage  de  consequence  dans  un  ou- 
vrage  frivole)  "Quoi!  c'est  ce  sot  ouvrier  qui  m*a 
faite,  moi  qui  divise  le  temps!  moi  qui  marque  si 
exactement  le  cours  du  soleil;  moi  qui  repete  a 
haute  voix  les  heures  que  j'indique!  non,  cela  ne 
se  peut  pas."  Nous  dedaignons  de  meme,  ingrats 
que  nous  sommes,  cette  mere  commune  de  tous  les 
rignes,  comme  parlent  les  chimistes.  Nous  ima- 
ginons  ou  plutot  supposons  une  cause  superieure  a 
celle  a  qui  nous  devons  tout,  et  qui  a  veritable- 
ment  tout  fait  d'une  maniere  inconcevable.  Non,  la 
matiere  n*a  rien  de  vil,  qu'aux  yeux  grossiers  qui 
la  meconnaissent  dans  ses  plus  brillants  ouvrages; 
et  la  nature  n'est  point  une  ouvriere  bornee.  Elle 
produit  des  millions  d'hommes  avec  plus  de  facilite 
et  de  plaisir,  qu'un  horloger  n'a  de  peine  a  faire  la 
montre  la  plus  composee.  Sa  puissance  eclate  egale- 
ment  et  dans  la  production  du  plus  vil  insecte,  et 
dans  celle  de  Thomme  le  plus  superbe;  le  regne 
animal  ne  lui  coute  pas  plus  que  le  vegetal,  ni  le 
plus  beau  genie  qu'un  epi  de  ble.  Jugeons  done 
par  ce  que  nous  voyons,  de  ce  qui  se  derobe  a  la 
curiosite  de  nos  yeux  et  de  nos  recherches,  et  n'ima- 
ginons  rien  au  dela.  Suivons  le  singe,  le  castor, 
I'elephant,  etc.,  dans  leurs  operations.  S'il  est  evi- 
dent qu'elles  ne  peuvent  se  faire  sans  intelligence,' 
pourquoi  la  refuser  a  ces  animaux?  et  si  vous  leur 
accordez  une  ame,  fanatiques,  vous  etes  perdus; 
vous  aurez  beau  dire  que  vous  ne  decidez  point  sur 
sa  nature,  tandis  que  vous  lui  otez  Timmortalite ; 
qui  ne  voit  que  c'est  une  assertion  gratuite?  qui  ne 
voit  qu'elle  doit  etre  ou  mortelle,  ou  immortelle, 


i 


78 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


comme  la  notre,  dont  elle  doit  subir  le  meme  sort 
quel  qu'il  soit!  et  qu'ainsi  c'est  tomber  dans  Scilla 
pour  vouloir  eviter  Carihde? 

Brisez  la  chaine  de  vos  prejuges ;  armez-vous  du 
flambeau  de  Texperience  et  vous  ferez  a  la  nature 
Thonneur  qu'elle  merite,  au  lieu  de  rien  conclure 
a  son  desavantage,  de  Tignorance  oii  elle  vous  a 
laisse.     Ouvrez  les  yeux  seulement,  et  laissez-la  ce 
que  vous  ne  pouvez  comprendre ;  et  vous  verrez  que 
ce    laboureur    dont    Tesprit    et    les    lumieres    ne 
s'etendent  pas  plus  loin  que  les  bords  de  son  sillon, 
ne  differe  point  essentiellement  du  plus  grand  genie, 
comme  Vtxxt  prouve  la  dissection  des  cerveaux  de 
Descartes  et  de  Newton:  vous  serez  persuade  que 
Timbecile  ou  le  stupide  sont  des  betes    a    figure 
humaine,    comme   le    singe   plein   d'esprit   est   un 
petit  homme  sous  une  autre  forme ;  et  qu'enfin  tout 
dependant  absolument  de  la  diversite  de  Torganisa- 
tion,  un  animal  bien  construit,  a  qui  on  a  appris 
Tastronomie,  pent  predire  une  eclipse,  comme  la 
guerison  ou  la  mort,  lorsqu'il  a  porte  quelque  temps 
du  genie  et  de  bons  yeux  a  Tecole  d'Hippocrate  et 
au  lit  des  malades.    C'est  par  cette  file  d'observa- 
tions  et  de  verites  qu'on  parvient  a  Her  a  la  matiere_ 
Tadmirable  propriete  de  penser,  sans  qu'on  en  puisse 
voir  les  liens,  parce  que  le  sujet  de  cet  attribut  nous 
est  essentiellement  inconnu. 

Ne  disons  point  que  toute  machine,  ou  tout  ani- 
mal, perit  tout-a-fait,  ou  prend  une  autre  forme, 
apres  la  mort;  car  nous  n'en  savons  absolument 
'  rien.  Mais  assurer  qu'une  machine  immortelle  est 
une  chimere,  ou  un  etre  de  raison,  c'est  faire  un 
raisonnement  aussi  absurde  que  celui  que  feraient 
des  chenilles,  qui,  voyant  les  depouilles  de  leurs  sem- 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


79 


blables,  deploreraient  amerement  le  sort  de  leur 
espece  qui  leur  semblerait  s'aneantir.  L'ame  de 
ces  insectes  (car  chaque  animal  a  la  sienne)  est 
trop  bornee  pour  comprendre  les  metamorphoses 
de  la  nature.  Jamais  un  seul  des  plus  ruses  d'entr- 
eux  n'eiit  imagine  qu'il  dut  devenir  papillon.  II 
en  est  de  meme  de  nous.  Que  savons-nous  plus  de 
notre  destinee,  que  de  notre  origine?  Soumettons- 
nous  done  a  une  ignorance  invincible  de  laquelle 
notre  bonheur  depend. 

Qui  pensera  ainsi,  sera  sage,  juste,  tranquille  sur 
son  sort,  et  par  consequent  heureux.  II  attendra 
la  mort,  sans  la  craindre,  ni  la  desirer ;  et  cherissant 
la  vie,  comprenant  a  peine  comment  le  degout  vient 
corrompre  un  coeur  dans  ce  lieu  plein  de  delices; 
plein  de  respect  pour  la  nature,  plein  de  recon- 
naissance, d'attachement  et  de  tendresse,  a  propor- 
tion du  sentiment  et  des  bien f aits  qu'il  en  a  regus, 
heureux  enfin  de  la  sentir,  et  d'etre  au  charmant 
spectacle  de  I'univers,  il  ne  le  detruira  certaine- 
ment  jamais  dans  soi,  ni  dans  les  autres.  Que  dis- 
je!  plein  d'humanite,  il  en  aimera  le  caractere  jus- 
ques  dans  ses  ennemis.  Jugez  comme  il  traitera  les 
autres!  II  plaindra  les  vicieux,  sans  les  hair;  ce 
ne  seront  a  ses  yeux  que  des  hommes  contrefaits. 
Mais  en  faisant  grace  aux  defauts  de  la  conforma- 
tion de  I'esprit  et  du  corps,  il  n'en  admirera  pas 
moins  leurs  beautes  et  leurs  vertus.  Ceux  que  la 
nature  aura  favorises  lui  paraitront  meriter  plus 
d'egards  que  ceux  qu'elle  aura  traites  en  maratre. 
C'est  ainsi  qu'on  a  vu  que  les  dons  naturels,  la 
source  de  tout  ce  qui  s'acquiert,  trouvent  dans  la 
bouche  et  le  coeur  du  materialiste  des  hommages 
que  tout  autre  leur  refuse  injustement.     Enfin  le 


il 


W 


\ 


80 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


materialiste  convaincu,  quoi  que  murmure  sa  propre 
vanite,  qu'il  n'est  qu'une  machine,  ou  un  animal, 
ne  maltraitera  point  ses  semblables;  trop  instruit 
sur  la  nature  de  ces  actions,  dont  I'inhumanite  est 
toujours  proportionnee  au  degre  d'analogie  prouvee 
ci  devant;  et  ne  voulant  pas  en  un  mot,  suivant  la 
loi  naturelle  donnee  a  tous  les  animaux,  faire  a 
autrui  ce  qu'il  ne  voudrait  pas  qu'il  lui  fit. 

Concluons  done  hardiment  que  I'homme  est  une 
machine;  et  qu'il  n'y  a  dans  tout  I'univers  qu'une 
seule  substance  diversement  modifiee.  Ce  n'est  point 
ici  une  hypothese  elevee  a  force  de  demandes  et  de 
suppositions:  ce  n'est  point  I'ouvrage  du  prejuge, 
ni  meme  de  ma  raison  seule;  j'eusse  dedaigne  un 
guide  que  je  crois  si  peu  sur,  si  mes  sens  portant, 
pour  ainsi  dire,  le  flambeau,  ne  m'eussent  engage  a 
la  suivre,  en  I'eclairant.  L'experience  m'a  done 
parle  pour  la  raison ;  c'est  ainsi  que  je  les  ai  jointes 
ensemble.  ) 

Mais  on  a  du  voir  que  je  ne  me  suis  permis  le 
raisonnement  le  plus  rigoureux  et  le  plus  immediate- 
ment  tire,  qu'a  la  suite  d'une  multitude  d'observa- 
tions  physiques  qu'aucun  savant  ne  contestera;  et 
c'est  encore  eux  seuls  que  je  reconnais  pour  juges 
des  consequences  que  j'en  tire;  recusant  ici  tout 
homme  a  prejuges,  et  qui  n'est  ni  anatomiste,  ni 
au  fait  de  la  seule  philosophie  qui  soit  ici  de  mise, 
celle  du  corps  humain.  Que  pourraient  contre  un 
chene  aussi  ferme  et  solide  ces  faibles  roseaux  de 
la  theologie,  de  la  metaphysique  et  des  ecoles; 
armes  pueriles,  semblables  aux  fleurets  de  nos 
salles,  qui  peuvent  bien  donner  le  plaisir  de  I'es- 
crime,  mais  jamais  entamer  son  adversaire.  Faut- 
il  dire  que  je  parle  de  ces  idees  creuses  et  triviales,  de 


L  HOMME  MACHINE. 


81 


ces  raisonnements  rebattus  et  pitoyables,  qu'on  fera 
sur  la  pretendue  incompatibilite  de  deux  substances 
qui  se  touchent  et  se  remuent  sans  cesse  I'une  et 
I'autre,  tant  qu'il  restera  I'ombre  du  prejuge  ou 
de  la  superstition  sur  la  terre?  Voila  mon  sys- 
teme,  ou  plutot  la  verite,  si  je  ne  me  trompe  fort. 
Elle  est  courte  et  simple.  Dispute  a  present  qui 
voudra ! 


\ 


-^*^"l»sr- 


) 


.>^    fv 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 

TT  is  not  enough  for  a  wise  man  to  study  nature 
A  and  truth;  he  should  dare  state  truth  for  the 
benefit  of  the  few  who  are  wilHng  and  able  to  think. 
As  for  the  rest,  who  are  voluntarily  slaves  of  preju- 
dice, they  can  no  more  attain  truth,  than  frogs  can 
fly. 

I  reduce  to  two  the  systems  of  philosophy  which 
deal  with  man's  soul.  The  first^ndj2ld£iLii)[st^m 
js  materialism :  the  second  is  spirituahsm.  nTj, 

The  metaphysicians  who  have  hinted  that  matter 
may  well  be  endowed  with  the  faculty  of  thoughti^ 
have  perhaps  not  reasoned  ill.  For  there  is  in  this 
case  a  certain  advantage  in  their  inadequate  way 
of  expressing  their  meaning.  In  truth,  to  ask 
whether  matter  can  think,  without  considering  it 
otherwise  than  in  itself,  is  like  asking  whether  mat- 
ter can  tell  time.  It  may  be  foreseen  that  we  shall 
avoid  this  reef  upon  which  Locke  had  the  bad  luck 
to  make  shipwreck.  — -^ 

The  Leibnizians  with  their  monads  have  set  up 
an  unintelligible  hypothesis.  They  have  rather  spir- 
itualized matter  than  materialized  the  soul.  How 
can  we  define  ^^ing  whose  nature  is  absolutely 
unknown  to  usx2^ 

Descartes  and  all  the  Cartesians,  among  whom 
the  followers  of  Malebranche  have  long  been  num- 


i 


f 


^^ 


86 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


bered,  have  made  the  same  mistake.  They  have 
taken  for  granted  two  distinct  substances  in  man, 
as  if  they  had  seen  them,  and  positively  counted 

em. 

The  wisest  men  have  declared  that  the  soul  can 
not  know  itself  save  by  the  light  of  faith.  However, 
as  reasonable  beings  they  have  thought  that  they 
could  reserve  for  themselves  the  right  of  examining 
what  the  Bible  means  by  the  word  "spirit,"  which 
it  uses  in  speaking  of  the  human  soul.  And  if  in 
their  investigation,  they  do  not  agree  with  the  theo- 
logians on  this  point,  are  the  theologians  more  in 
agreement  among  themselves  on  all  other  points? 

Here  is  the  result  in  a  few  words,  of  all  their 
reflections.     H  there  is  a  God,  He  is  the  Author  V' 
of  nature  as  well  as  of  revelation.     He  has  given 
us  the  one  to  explain  the  other,  and  reason  to  make 
them  agree. 

To  distrust  the  knowledge  that  can  be  drawn 
from  the  study  of  animated  bodies,  is  to  regard 
nature  and  revelation  as  two  contraries  which  de- 
stroy each  the  other,  and  consequently  to  dare  up- 
hold the  absurd  doctrine,  that  God  contradicts  Him- 
self in  His  various  works  and  deceives  us. 

K  there  is  a  revelation,  it  can  not  then  contradict 
nature.  By  nature  only  can  we  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  words  of  the  Gospel,  of  which  ex- 
perience is  the  only  true  interpreter.  In  fact,  the 
commentators  before  our  time  have  only  obscured 
the  truth.  We  can  judge  of  this  by  the  author  of 
the  "-Spectacle  of  Nature.*'^  "It  is  astonishing," 
he  says  concerning  Locke,  "that  a  man  who  de- 
grades our  soul  far  enough  to  consider  it  a  soul 
of  clay  should  dare  set  up  reason  as  judge  and  sov- 


14-15] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


87 


ereign  arbiter  of  the  mysteries  of  faith,  for,  he 
adds,  "what  an  astonishing  idea  of  Christianity 
one  would  have,  if  one  were  to  follow  reason. 

Not  only  do  these  reflections  fail  to  elucidate 
faith,  but  they  also  constitute  such  frivolous  ob- 
jections to  the  method  of  those  who  undertake  to 
interpret  the  Scripture,  that  I  am  almost  ashamed  to 
waste  time  in  refuting  them. 

The  excellence  of  reason  does  not  depend  on  a 
big  word  devoid  of  meaning  (immateriality),  but 
on  the  force,  extent,  and  perspicuity  of  reason  it- 
self   Thus  a  "soul  of  clay"  which  should  discover,^ 
at  one  glance,  as  it  were,  the  relations  and  the  con- 
sequences of  an  infinite  number  of  ideas  hard  to 
understand,  would  evidently  be  preferable  to  a  fool- 
ish and  stupid  soul,  though  that  were  composed  of 
•  the  most  precious  elements.    A  man  is  not  a  philos- 
opher because,  with  Pliny,  he    blushes  over    the 
wretchedness  of  our  origin.     What  seems  vile  is 
here  the  most  precious  of  things,  and  seems  to  be 
the  object  of  nature's  highest  art  and  most  elaborate 
care.  But  as  man,  even  though  he  should  come  from 
an  apparently  still  more  lowly  source,  would  yet  be 
the  most  perfect  of  all  beings,   so  whatever  the 
origin  of  his  soul,  if  it  is  pure,  noble,  and  lofty, 
it  is  a  beautiful  soul  which  dignifies  the  man  en- 
dowed with  it.     ^ 

Pluche's  second  way  of  reasoning  seems  vicious 
tolJIT^en  in  his  system,  which  smacks  a  little  of 
fanaticism;  for  [on  his  view]  if  we  have  an  idea 
of  faith  as  being  contrary  to  the  clearest  principles, 
to  the  most  incontestable  truths,  we  must  yet  con- 
clude, out  of  respect  for  revelation  and  its  author, 


/ 


\ 


/ 


/A- 


/ 


) 


-V 


88 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


that  this  conception  is  false,  and  that  we  do  not  yet 

understand  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  the  Gospel. 

Of  the  two  alternatives,  only  one  is  possible: 

^  either  everything  is  illusion,  nature  as  well  as  reve- 
lation, or  experience  alone  can  explain  faith.  But 
what  can  be  more  ridiculous  than  the  position  of 

/  our  author !  Can  one  imagine  hearing  a  Peripatetic 
say,  "We  ought  not  to  accept  the  experiments  of 
Jorricelll^  for  if  we  should  accept  them,  if  we 
should  rid  ourselves  of  the  horror  of  the  void,  what 
an  astonishing  philosophy  we  should  have!" 

I  have  shown  how  vicious  the  reasoning  of  Pluche 
is*  in  order  to  prove,  in  the  first  place,  that  if  there 
is  a  revelation,  it  is  not  sufficiently  demonstrated 
by  the  mere  authority  of  the  Church,  and  without 
any  appeal  to  reason,  as  all  those  who  fear  reason 
claim:  and  in  the  second  place,  to  protect  against 
all  assault  the  method  of  those  who  would  wish  to 
follow  the  path  that  I  open  to  them,  of  interpreting 
supernatural  things,  incomprehensible  in  themselves, 
in  the  light  oMhose  ideas  with  which  nature  has 
endowed  jis i  Experience  and  observation  should 


therefore  be  our  only  guides  here.  Both  are  to  be 
found  throughout  the  records  of  the  physicians  who 
were  philosophers,  and  not  in  the  works  of  the  phi- 
losophers who  were  not  physicians^^  The  former 
have  traveled  through  and  illuminated  the  labyrinth 
of  man ;  they  alone  have  laid  bare  to  us  those  springs 
[of  life]  hidden  under  the  external  integument 
which  conceals  so  many  wonders  from  our  eyes. 
They  alone,  tranquilly  contemplating  our  soul,  have 
surprised  it,  a  thousand  times,  both  in  its  wretched- 
ness and  in  its  glory,  and  they  have  no  more  despised 
*  He  evidently  errs  by  begging  the  questioa 


/ 


/ 


/" 


16-17I 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


89 


it  in  the  first  estate,  than  they  have  admired  it  in  the 
second.  Thus,  to  repeat,  only  the  physicians  h$ve 
a  right  to  speak  on  this  subject^  What  could  the  - 
others,  especially  the  theologians,  have  to  say  ?  Is 
it  not  ridiculous  to  hear  them  shamelessly  coming 
to  conclusions  about  a  subject  concerning  which  they 
have  had  no  means  of  knowing  anything,  and  from 
which  on  the  contrary  they  have  been  completely 
turned  aside  by  obscure  studies  that  have  led  them 
to  a  thousand  prejudiced  opinions, — in  a  word,  to 
fanaticism,  which  adds  yet  more  to  their  ignorance 
of  the  mechanism  of  the  body? 

But  even  though  we  have  chosen  the  best  guides, 
we  shall  still  find  many  thorns  and  stumbling  blocks 

in  the  way.  J\        ^    ,    . 

Man  is  so  complicated  a  machinftSAhat  it  is  im-^ 
possiBlTto'gerircIear  idea  of  tlie^machin^ 
hand,  and  hence  impossible  to  define  it.  For  this 
reason,  all  the  investigations  have  been  vain,  which 
the  greatest  philosophers  have  madejaj^nori,  that  is 
to  say,  in  so  far  as  they  use,  as  it  were,  the  wings 
of  the  spirit.  Thus  it  is  only  ajosteriori  or  by  try- 
ing to  disentangle  the  soul  from  the  organs  of  the 
body,  so  to  speak,  that  one  can  reach  the  highest 
probability  concerning  man's  own  nature,  even 
though  one  can  not  discover  with  certainty  what 

his  nature  is. 

Let  us  then  take  in  our  hands  the  staff  of  ex- 
perience,i-paying  no  heed  to  the  accounts  of  all 
the  idle  theories  of  philosophers.  To  be  blind  and 
to  think  that  one  can  do  without  this  staff  is  the 
worst  kind  of  blindness.  How  truly  a  contemporary 
writer  says  that  only  vanity  fails  to  gather  from 
secondary  causes  the  same  lessons  as  from  primary 


?. 


/•  — ■ 


1 


^i\ 


,1 

u 


^1 


90 


\ 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


causes!  One  can  and  one  even  ought  to  admire 
all  these  fine  geniuses  in  their  most  useless  works, 
such  men  as  Descartes,  Malebranche,  Leibniz,  WoJff 

^ofitT^'ask,  has~any  one 


and  the  rest,  but  whS    ^ , , 

gained  from  their  profound  meditations,  and  from 
a^^  their  works  ?    Let  us  start  out  then  to  discover 
not  what  has  been  thought,  but  what  must  be  thought 
for  the  sake  of  repose  in  life. 
^     There  are  as  many  different  minds,  different  char- 
""acters,  and  different  customs,  as  there  are  different 
temperaments.    Even  Galen^  knew  this  truth  which 
Descartes  carried  so  fa?ls  to  claim  that  medicine 
alone  can  change  minds  and  morals,  along  with 
bodies.     (By  the  writer  of  'JJlust^redeVsme;'^ 
this  teaching  is  incorrectly  ^attributedTo  Hippoc- 
ji       rate^^O)     It  is  true  that  melancholy,  bile,  phfeghi, 
blood  etc.— according  to  the  nature,  the  abundance, 
and  the  different  combination  of  these  humors — 
make  each  man  different  from  ,^nother.^^ 

In  disease  the  soul  is  sometimes  hidden,  showing 
no  sign  of  life;  sometimes  it  is  so  inflamed  by  fury 
that  it  seems  to  be  doubled ;  sometimes,  imbecility 
vanishes  and  the  convalescence  of  an  idiot  produces  a 
wise  man.  Sometimes,  again,  the  greatest  genms  be- 
comes imbecile  and  loses  the  sense  of  self.  Adieu  then 
to  all  that  fine  knowledge,  acquired  at  so  high  a  price, 
and  with  so  much  trouble !  Here  is  a  paralytic  who 
asks  if  his  leg  is  in  bed  with  him;  there  is  a  soldier 
who  thinks  that  he  still  has  the  arm  which  has  been 
cut  off.  The  memory  of  his  old  sensations,  and  of 
,  the  place  to  which  they  were  referred  by  hiVsoiil, 
^  is  the  cause  of  his  illusion,  and  of  this  kind  of  de- 
lirium. The  mere  mention  of  the  member  which 
he  has  lost  is  enough  to  recall  it  to  his  mind,  and 


17-19] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


91 


to  make  him  feel  all  its  motions ;  and  this  causes  him 
an  indefinable  and  inexpressible  kind  of  imaginary 
suffering.  This  man  cries  like  a  child  at  death's 
approach,  while  this  other  jests.  What  was  needed 
to  change  the  bravery  of  Caius  Julius,  Seneca,  or 
Petronius  into  cowardice  or  faintheartedness? 
Merely  an  obstruction  in  the  spleen,  in  the  liver, 
an  impediment  in  the  portal  vein  ?  Why  ?  Because 
the  imagination  is  obstructed  along  with  the  viscera, 
/and  this  gives  rise  to  all  the  singular  phenomena  of 
^''hysteria  and  hypochondria. 
V  What  can  I  add  to  the  stories  already  told  of 
those  who  imagine  themselves  transformed  into 
wolf-men,  cocks  or  vampires,  or  of  those  who  think 
that  the  dead  feed  upon  them  ?  Why  should  I  stop 
to  speak  of  the  man  who  imagines  that  his  nose  or 
some  other  member  is  of  glass?  The  way  to  help 
this  man  regain  his  faculties  and  his  own  flesh-and- 
blood  nose  is  to  advise  him  to  sleep  on  hay,  lest 
he  break  the  fragile  organ,  and  then  to  set  fire  to 
the  hay  that  he  may  be  afraid  of  being  burned — 
a  fear  which  has  sometimes  cured  paralysis.  But  I 
must  touch  lightly  on  facts  which  everybody  knows. 
Neither  shall  I  dwell  long  on  the  details  of  the 
effects  of  sleep.  Here  a  tired  soldier  snores  in  a 
trench,  in  the  middle  of  the  thunder  of  hundreds 
of  cannon.  His  soul  hears  nothing;  his  sleep  is  as 
deep  as  apoplexy.  A  bomb  is  on  the  point  of  crush- 
ing him.  He  will  feel  this  less  perhaps  than  he  feels 
an  insect  which  is  under  his  foot. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  man  who  is  devoured  by 
jealousy,  hatred,  avarice,  or  ambition,  can  never 
find  any  rest.  The  most  peaceful  spot,  the  freshest 
and  most  calming  drinks  are  alike  useless  to  one 


\t 


J 


\'i'- 


^J^ 


92 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


who  has  not  freed  his  heart  from  the  torment  of 
passion. 

The  soul  and  the  body  fall  asleep  together.  As 
the  motion  of  the  blood  is  calmed,  a  sweet  feeling 
of  peace  and  quiet  spreads  through  the  whole  mech- 
anism. The  soul  feels  itself  little  by  little  growing 
heavy  as  the  eyelids  droop,  and  loses  its  tenseness,  as 
the  fibres  of  the  brain  relax ;  thus  little  by  little  it  be- 
comes as  if  paralyzed  and  with  it  all  the  muscles 
of  the  body.  These  can  no  longer  sustain  the 
weight  of  the  head,  and  the  soul  can  no  longer  bear 
the  burden  of  thought;  it  is  in  sleep  as  if  it  were 
not. 

Is  the  circulation  too  quick?  the  soul  can  not 

sleep.     Is  the  soul  too  much  excited?  the  blood 

can  not  be  quieted:  it  gallops  through  the  veins 

with  an  audible  murmur.    Such  are  the  two  opposite 

causes  of  insomnia.     A  single  fright  in  the  midst 

of  our  dreams  makes  the  heart  beat  at  double  speed 

and  snatches  us  from  needed  and  delicious g^CE^se,^ 

as  a  real  grief  or  an  urgentneedjvould  do.  \  Lastly 

r"a5"Ttie"mere  cessation  otThe  functionsoi  the  soul 

;  produces  sleep,  there  are,  even  when  we  are  awake 

(or  at  least  when  we  are  half  awake),  kinds  of  very 

frequent  short  naps  of  the  mind,  vergers*  dreams, 

^  which  show  that  the  soul  does  not  always  wait  for 

the  body  to  sleep.    For  if  the  soul  is  not  fast  asleep, 

it  surely  is  not  far  from  sleep,  since  it  can  not  point 

out  a  single  object  to  which  it  has  attended,  among 

^   the  uncounted  number  of  confused  ideas  which,  so  to 

Y  speak,  fill  the  atmosphere  of  our  brains  like  clouds. 

Opium  is  too  closely  related  to  the  sleep  it  pro- 
duces, to  be  left  out  of  consideration  here.  This 
drug  intoxicates,  like  wine,  coffee,  etc.,  each  in 


m. 

I 


19-21] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


93 


\ 

I    ^ 


Its  own  measure  and  according  to  the  dosg^  It 
makes  a  man  happy  in  a  state  which  would  seem- 
ingly be  the  tomb  of  feeling,  as  it  is  the  image  of 
death.  How  sweet  is  this  lethargy !  The  soul  would 
long  never  to  emerge  from  it.  For  the  soul  has  been  a 
prey  to  the  most  intense  sorrow,  but  now  feels  only 
the  joy  of  suffering  past,  and  of  sweetest  peace. 
Opium  even  alters  the  will,  forcing  the  soul  which 
wished  to  wake  and  to  enjoy  life,  to  sleep  in  spite 
of  itself.  I  shall  omit  any  reference  to  the  effect 
of  poisons. 

Coffee,  the  well-known  antidote  for  wine,  by 
scourging  the  imagination,  cures  our  headaches  and 
scatters  our  cares  without  laying  up  for  us,  as  wine 
does,  other  headaches  for  the  morrow.  But  let  us 
contemplate  the  soul  in  its  other  needs.  ^  .      . 

The  human  body  is  a  machine  which  winds  its  ' ,  ^  ^zJ^JLAm^ 


ii 


own  sprmgs.     It  is  the  Ijvingf  image  of_perpetual 


Qt\yji/^- 


pines 


y|/vver^^^<^-» 


away,  goes  mad,  and  dies  exhausted.  The  soul  is 
a  taper  whose  light  flares  up  the  moment  before 
it  goes  out.  But  nourish  the  body,  pour  into  its 
veins  life-giving  juices  and  strong  liquors,  and  then 
the  soul  grows  strong  like  them,  as  if  arming  itself 
with  a  proud  courage,  and  the  soldier  whom  water 
would  have  made  flee,  grows  bold  and  runs  joy- 
ously to  death  to  the  sound  of  drums.  Thus  a  hot 
drink  sets  into  stormy  movement  the  blood  which 
a  cold  drink  would  have  calmed. 

^,    What  power  there  is  in  a  meal!    Joy  revives  in  ^ly^^^^,JUry^ 
a  sad  heart,  and  infects  the  souls  of  comrades,  who  ^^^^-^'^^^-^^'""^ 
express  their  delight  in  the  friendly  songs  in  whichij^ 
the  Frenchman  excels.    The  melancholy  man  alone^'^'*"'^ 


/ 


/^A/v< 


\f^-.JUi 


\ 


^ 


94 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


21-24I 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


95 


is  dejected,  and  the  studious  man  is  equally  out  of 
)lace  [in  such  company]. 
Raw  meat  makes  animals^fierce,  and  it  would 
Jjave  the  same  effect  on  man.  This  is  soTrue  that 
the  English  who  eaFmeat  red  and  bloody,  and  not 
as  well  done  as  ours,  seem  to  share  more  or  less  in 
the  savagery  due  to  this  kind  of  food,  and  to  other 
causes  which  can  be  rendered  ineffective  by  educa- 
tion only.  This  savagery  creates  in  the  soul,  pride, 
hatred,  scorn  of  other  nations,  indocility  and  other 
sentiments  which  degrade  the  character,  just  as 
heavy  food  makes  a  dull  and  heavy  mind  whose 
usual  traits  are  laziness  and  indolence. 

Pope  understood  well  the  full  power  of  greedi- 
ness when  he  said:i£ 

"Catius  is  ever  moral,  ever  grave, 
Thinks  who  endures  a  knave  is  next  a  knave, 
Save  just  at  dinner — then  prefers  no  doubt, 
A  rogue  with  ven'son  to  a  saint  without." 

Elsewhere  he  says: 

"See  the  same  man  in  vigor,  in  the  gout 
Alone,  in  company,  in  place  or  out, 
Early  at  business  and  at  hazard  late. 
Mad  at  a  fox  chase,  wise  at  a  debate. 
Drunk  at  a  borough,  civil  at  a  ball. 
Friendly  at  Hackney,  faithless  at  White  Hall." 

In  Switzerland  we  had  a  bailiff  by  the  name  of 
M.  Steigner  de  Wittighofen.  When  he  fasted  he 
was  a  most  upright  and  even  a  most  indulgent 
judge,  but  woe  to  the  unfortunate  man  whom  he 
found  on  the  culprit's  bench  after  he  had  had  a 
large  dinner!  He  was  capable  of  sending  the  in- 
nocent like  the  guilty  to  the  gallows. 
\    We  think  we  are,  and  in  fact  we  are,  good  men, 


} 


^ 


r 


vy 


onljLaLJSejLre^^ 

on  the  way  our  machinejsjmning.    One  is  some- 

timeTincImeTto^rt^^ 
stomach,  m^r^J^i^^T^^^^^''  who  said  that      — 
thc-^^aToTthrsoul  was  in  the  pylorus,  made  only 
the  mistake  of  taking  the  part  for  the  whole. 

To  what  excesses  cruel  hunger  can  bring  us !  We  y^^^^^V^ 
no  longer  regard  even  our  own  parents  and  chil- 
dren. We  tear  them  to  pieces  eagerly  and  make 
horrible  banquets  of  them;  and  in  the  fury  with 
which  we  are  carried  away,  the  weakest  is  always 
the  prey  of  the  strongest 

One  needs  only  eyes  to  see  the  necessary  influence 
of  old  age  on  reason.  The  soul  follows  the  prog- 
ress of  the  body,  as  it  does  the  progress  of  educa- 
tion. In  the  weaker  sex,  the  soul  accords  also  with 
delicacy  of  temperament,  and  from  this  delicacy  fol- 
low tenderness,  affection,  quick  feelings  due  more 
to  passion  than  to  reason,  prejudices,  and  super- 
stitions, whose  strong  impress  can  hardly  be  effaced. 
Man,  on  the  other  hand,  whose  brajnjadjier^ 
partake  o^ 

"str^iger "UjakkLi^^ T  ■...■■  .i:::::^ .^^ — — ''^ 

MJ^ad^iTwhich  womelTlackr^trengnrens  his  mind 

still  more.  Thus  with  such  help  of  nature  and  art, 
why  should  not  a  man  be  more  grateful,  more  gen- 
erous, more  constant  in  friendship,  stronger  in  ad- 
versity? But,  to  follow  almost  exactly  the  thought 
of  the  author  of  the  ^Tettres  sur  la^hymogno- 
mie"^^  the  sex  which  unites  the  charms  of  the 
^rmfd'Tnd  of  the  body  with  almost  all  the  tenderest 
and  most  delicate  feelings  of  the  heart,  should  not 
envy  us  the  two  capacities  which  seem  to  have  been 
given  to  man,  the  one  merely  to  enable  him  better 


'i 


96 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


24-26] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


97 


^ 

J 


"^ 


w 


to  fathom  the  allurements  of  beauty,  and  the  other 
merely  to  enable  him  to  minister  better  to  its  pleas- 
ures. 

It  is  no  more  necessary  to  be  just  as  great  a 
physiognomist  as  this  author,  in  order  to  guess  the 
quality  of  the  mind  from  the  countenance  or  the 
shape  of  the  features,  provided  these  are  sufficiently 
marked,  than  it  is  necessary  to  be  a  great  doctor 
to  recognize  a  disease  accompanied  by  all  its  marked 
symptoms.  Look  at  the  portraits  of  Locke^of  Steele,, 
of  Boerhaave,^^  of  Maupertuis,*"^  and  the  rest,  and 
you  wilPnot  6e  surprised  to  find  strong  faces  and 
eagle  eyes.  Look  over  a  multitude  of  others,  and  you 
can  always  distinguish  the  man  of  talent  from  the 
man  of  genius,  and  often  even  an  honest  man  from  a 
scoundrel.  For  example,  it  has  been  noticed  that 
a  celebrated  poet  combines  (in  his  portrait)  the 
look  of  a  pickpocket  with  the  fire  of  Prometheus. 

History  provides  us  with  a  noteworthy  example 
of  the  power  of  temperature.  The  famous  Duke 
of  Guise  was  so  strongly  convinced  that  Henry  the 
Third,  in  whose  power  he  had  so  often  been,  would 
never  dare  assassinate  him,  that  he  went  to  Blois. 
When  the  Chancelor  Chiverny  learned  of  the  duke*s 
departure,  he  cried,  "He  is  lost."  After  this  fatal 
prediction  had  been  fulfilled  by  the  event,  Chiverny 
was  asked  why  he  made  it.  "I  have  known  the 
king  for  twenty  years,"  said  he;  "he  is  naturally 
kind  and  even  weakly  indulgent,  but  I  have  noticed 
that  when  it  is  cold,  it  takes  nothing  at  all  to  pro- 
voke him  and  send  him  into  a  passion."  J:^^ 

One  nation  is  of  heavy  and  stupid  wit,  and  an-  \^^ 
other  quick,  light  and  penetrating.     Whence  comes     \ 
this  difference,  if  not  in  part  from  the  difference 


( 


in  foods,  and  difference  in  inheritance,*  and  in  part 
from  the  mixture  of  the  diverse  elements  which 
float  around  in  the  immensity  of  the  void?  The 
mind,  like  the  body,  has  its  contagious  diseases  and 
its  scurvy. 

Such  is  the  influence  of  climate,  that  a  man  who 
goes  from  one  climate  to  another,  feels  the  change, 
in  spite  of  himself.     Hejs^a^walking  plantjadikh 
has  transplanted  itself:  ifjjae  climfbte-ts-ircrtr'the^ 
same,  it  will  surely  either  dfg^^^^^^^  ^"^  improve 

Furthermore,  we  catch  everything  from  those 
with  whom  we  come  in  contact ;  their  gestures,  their 
accent,  etc. ;  just  as  the  eyelid  is  instinctively  lowered 
when  a  blow  is  foreseen,  or  as  (for  the  same  reason) 
the  body  of  the  spectator  mechanically  imitates,  in 
spite  of  himself,  all  the  motions  of  a  good  mimic-i2- 

From  what  I  have  just  said,  it  follows  that  a 
brilliant  man  is  his  own  best  company,  unless  he 
can  find  other  company  of  the  same  sort.  In  the 
society  of  the  unintelligent,  the  mind  grows  rusty 
for  lack  of  exercise,  as  at  tennis  a  ball  that  is 
served  badly  is  badly  returned.  I  should  prefer  an 
intelligent  man  without  an  education,  if  he  were 
still  young  enough,  to  a  man  badly  educated.  A 
badly  trained  mind  is  like  an  actor  whom  the  prov- 
inces have  spoiled. 

Thus,  the^  diverse  states  of  the^^oul  are  always 
correlative  with  thosc-of  the  bodV>^  \  But  the  better 


to  show  this  dependenceTinitsaTfTipleteness  and 
its  causes,  let  us  here  make  use  of  comparative 
anatomy;  let  us  lay  bare  the  organs  of  man  and 

*  The  history  of  animals  and  of  men  proves  how  the  mind 
and  the  body  of  children  are  dominated  by  their  mhentance 
from  their  fathers. 


\ 


Irflr^ 


V 


J^ 


\ 


i 


^i 


98 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


26-28J 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


99 


^ 


V 


'V 


W 


of  animals.  How  can  human  nature  be  known,  if 
we  may  not  derive  any  light  from  an  exact  com- 
parison of  the  structure  of  man  and  of  animals? 

In  general,  the  form  and  the  structure  of  the 
brains  of  quadrupeds  are  almost  the  same  as  those 
of  the  brain  of  man;  the  same  shape,  the  same  ar- 
rangement everywhere,  with  this  essential  differ- 
ence, that  of  all  the  animals  man  is  the  one  whose 
brain  is  largest,  and,  in  proportion  to  its  mass,  more 
convoluted  than  the  brain  of  any  other  animal ;  then 
come  the  monkey,  the  beaver,  the  elephant,  the 
dog,  the  fox,  the  cat.  These  animals  are  most  like 
man,  for  among  them,  too,  one  notes  the  same 
progressive  analogy  in  relation  to  the  corpus  callo- 
sum  in  which  Lancisi — anticipating  the  late  M.  de 
laPeyronie^^ — established  the  seat  of  the  soul.  The 
Tatter,  however,  illustrated  the  theory  by  innumer- 
able experiments.  Next  after  all  the  quadrupeds, 
birds  have  the  largest  brains.  Fish  have  large 
heads,  but  these  are  void  of  sense,  like  the  heads 
of  many  men.  Fish  have  no  corpus  callosum,  and 
very  little  brain,  while  insects  entirely  lack  brain. 
'  shall  not  launch  out  into  any  more  detail  about 
the  varieties  of  nature,  nor  into  conjectures  con- 
cerning them,  for  there  is  an  infinite  number  of  both, 
as  any  one  can  see  by  reading  no  further  than  the 

treatises  of  WjJHs  "De  Cerebro"  and  "De  Anima 

Bnitoriim£2i  -■ — . 

1  shall  draw  the  conclusions  which  follow  clearly 
from  these  incontestable  observations:  1st,  that  the 
fiercer  animals  are,  the  less  brain  they  have;  2d, 
that  this  organ  seems  to  increase  in  size  in  propor- 
tion to  the  gentleness  of  the  animal;  3d,  that  na- 
ture seems  here  eternally  to  impose  a  singular  con- 


ll         ' 


dition,  that  the  more  one  gains  in  intelligence  the  ) 
more  one  loses  in  instinct.  Does  this  bring  gain ' 
or  loss  ? 

Do  not  think,  however,  that  I  wish  to  infer  by 
that,  that  the  size  alone  of  the  brain,  is  enough  to 
indicate  the  degree  of  tameness  in  animals:  the 
quality  must  correspond  to  the  quantity,  and  the 
solids  and  liquids  must  be  in  that  due  equilibrium 
which  constitutes  health. 

f,  as  is  ordinarily  observed,  the  imbecile  does 
not  lack  brain,  his  brain  will  be  deficient  in  its  con- 
sistency— for  instance,  in  being  too  soft.  The  same 
thing  is  true  of  the  insane,  and  the  defects  of  their 
brains  do  not  always  escape  our  investigation.  But 
if  the  causes  of  imbecility,  insanity,  etc.,  are  not  ob- 
vious, where  shall  we  look  for  the  causes  of  the  di- 
versity of  all  minds  ?  They  would  escape  the  eyes  of  a^^ 
lynx  and  of  an  argus.  A  mere  nothing,  a  tiny  fibre, 
something  that  could  never  be  found  by  the  most 
delicate  anatomy,  would  have  made  of  Erasmus 
andJPontenelleff  two  idiots,  and  FontenelleTiimserF 
speaks  of  this  very  fact  in  one  of  his  best  dialogues. 

Willis  has  noticed  in  addition  to  the  softness  of 
the  brain-substance  in  children,  puppies,  and  birds, 
that  the  corpora  striata  are  obliterated  and  dis- 
colored in  all  these  animals,  and  that  the  striations 
are  as  imperfectly  formed  as  in  paralyticsTTTT:^     '  /; 

52i5^e}2i:xautious_5^^  CiA>^^^  ^^V^ 

the^9jQS£qiierices  that  c^be  deduced  f  ronitHeseob-      ' 
nervations,  ana^ronTmanv^^  f 

kirTd^f  variation  in  the  organs,  ^lerves?  etc.,  [one 


I 


must  admit  that]  so  many  di] 


,>yMV^>^^^ 


\ 


iri^tie§^j^t 


not  bejhe^atuitous  play  f>f  ^^tn^^     Tljey  prove 
at  leastthe  necessi^  f  or  a  gopH  anH  vigorous  phys- 


K  * 


100 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


28-30] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


101 


jcal  organization,  since  throughout  the  anjrnaj_king- 
tiTgains  force"linth  the  body  and  ac- 
guiresjceenness,  as  the  body  gains  strength. 

JLeFus  pause  to  contemplate'  the  varying  capacity 
of  animals  to  learn.  Doubtless  the  analogy  best 
framed  leads  the  mind  to  think  that  the  causes  we 
have  mentioned  produce  all  the  difference  that  is 
found  between  animals  and  men,  although  we  must 
confess  that  our  weak  understanding,  limited  to  the 
coarsest  observations,  can  not  see  the  bonds  that 
exist  between  cause  and  effects.  This  is  a  kind  of 
harmony  that  philosophers  will  never  know. 

^Among  animals,  some  learn  to  speak  and  sing; 
they  remember  tunes,  and  strike  the  notes  as  ex- 
actly as  a  musician.  Others,  for  instance  the  ape, 
show  more  intelligence,  and  yet  can  not  learn  music. 
What  is  the  reason  for  this,  except  some  defect  in 
the  organs  of  speech?  But  is  this  defect  so  essen- 
tial to  the  structure  that  it  could  never  be  remedied  ? 
In  a  word,  would  it  be  absolutely  impossible  to 
teach  the  ape  a  language  P^^     I  do  not  think  so. 

I  should  choose  a  large  ape  in  preference  to  any 
other,  until  by  some  good  fortune  another  kind 
should  be  discovered,  more  like  us,  for  nothing 
prevents  there  being  such  an  one  in  regions  un- 
known to  us.  The  ape  resembles  us  so  strongly 
that  naturalists  have  called  it  "wild  man"  or  "man 
of  the  woods./  I  should  take  it  in  the  condition 
of  the  pupils  of  Amman^^^  that  is  to  say,  I  should 
not  want  it  to  be  too  young  or  too  old;  for  apes 
that  are  brought  to  Europe  are  usually  too  old. 
I  would  choose  the  one  with  the  most  intelligent 
face,  and  the  one  which,  in  a  thousand  little  ways, 
best  lived  up  to  its  look  of  intelligence.     Finally 


/ 


not  considering  myself  worthy  to  be  his  master, 
I  should  put  him  in  the  school  of  that  excellent 
teacher  whom  I  have  just  named,  or  with  another 
teacher  equally  skilful,  if  there  is  one. 

You  know  by  Amman's  work,  and  by  all  those 
who  have  interpreted  his  method,  all  the  wonders 
he  has  been  able  to  accomplish  for  those  born  deaf. 
In  their  ^yes  he  discovered  ears,  as  he  himself  ex- 
plains, and  in  how  short  a  time !    In  short  he  taught 
them  to  hear,  speak,  read,  and  write.    I  grant  that 
a  deaf  person's  eyes  see  more  clearly  and  are  keener 
than  if  he  were  not  deaf,  for  the  loss  of  one  member 
or  sense  can  increase  the  strength  or  acuteness  of 
another,  but  apes  see  and  hear,  they  understand 
what  they  hear  and  see,  and  grasp  so  perfectly  the 
signs  that  are  made  to  them,  that  I  doubt  not  that 
they  would  surpass  the  pupils  of  Amman  in  any 
other  game  or  exercise.    Why  then  should  the  edu- 
cation of  monkeys  be  impossible?    Why  might  not 
the  monkey,  by  dint  of  great  pains,  at  last  imitate 
after  the  manner  of  deaf  mutes,  the  motions  neces- 
sary  for  pronunciation?     I  do  not    dare    decide 
whether  the  monkey's  organs  of  speech,  however 
trained,  would  be  incapable  of  articulation.     But, 
because  of  the  great  analogy  between  ape  and  man^ 
and  because  there  is  no  known  animal  whose  exter- 
nal and  internal  organs  so  strikingly  resemble  man's, 
it  would  surprise  me  if  speech  were  absolutely  im- 
possible to  the  ape.     Locke,    who    was    certainly 
never  suspected  of  credulity,   found  no  difficulty 
in  believing  the  story  told  by  Sir  William  TempleSi 
in  his  memoirs,  about  a  parrot  which  could  an- 
swer rationally,  and  which  had  learned  to  carry 
♦  The  author  of  "The  Natural  History  of  the  Soul.** 


/ 


/ 


fi\ 


102 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


on  a  kind  of  connected  conversation,  as  we  do. 
I  know  that  people  have  ridiculed*  this  great  meta- 
physician; but  suppose  some  one  should  have  an- 
nounced that  reproduction  sometimes  takes  place 
without  eggs  or  a  female,  would  he  have  found 
many  partisans  ?     Yet  M.   Tremblev^^  has  found 
cases  where  reproduction  takes  place  without  copu- 
lation and  by  fission.    Would  not  Amman  too  have 
passed  for  mad  if  he  had  boasted  that  he  could 
instruct  scholars  like  his  in  so  short  a  time,  before 
he  had  happily  accomplished  the  feat?     His  suc- 
cesses have,  however,  astonished  the  world;  and 
he,  like  the  author  of  '^TbeJEIisLorv  of  Polyps."  has 
risen  to  immortality  at  one  bound.    Whoever  owes 
the  miracles  that  he  works  to  his  own  genius  sur- 
passes, in  my  opinion,  the  man  who  owes  his  to 
chance.  He  who  has  discovered  the  art  of  adorning 
the  most  beautiful  of  the  kingdoms  [of  nature],  and 
of  giving  it  perfections  that  it  did  not  have,  should  be 
rated  above  an  idle  creator  of  frivolous  systems,  or  a 
painstaking  author  of  sterile  discoveries.   Amman's 
discoveries  are  certainly  of  a  much  greater  value; 
he  has  freed  men  from  the  instinct  to  which  they 
seemed  to  be  condemned,  and  has  given  them  ideas, 
intelligence,  or  in  a  word,  a  soul  whijah  the^woukL 
never  have  had.     What  greater  power  than  this ! 

Let  us  not  limit  the  resources  of  nature;  they 
are  infinite,  especially  when  reinforced  by  great  art. 
^"^-^i^uld  not  the  device  which  opens  the  Eustachian 
canal  of  the  deaf,  open  that  of  apes?  Might  not  a 
happy  desire  to  imitate  the  master's  pronunciation, 
hberate  the  organs  of  speech  in  animals  that  imitate 
\^o  many  other  signs  with  such  skill  and  intelligence  ? 
*  The  author  of  "The  History  of  the  SouL" 


R 


3i>-32] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


103 


Not  only  do  I  defy  any  one  to  name  any  really 
conclusive  experiment  which  proves  my  view  im- 
possible and  absurd ;  but  such  is  the  likeness  of  the 
structure  and  functions  of  the  ape  to  ours  that  1 
have  very  little  doubt  that  if  this  animal  were  prop- 
erly trained  he  might  at  last  be  taught  to  Pronounce 
and  consequently  to  know,  a  language.     Jhen  t^e 
would  no  longer  be  a  wild  man,  nor  a  defective 
man,  but  he  would  be  a  perfect  man  a  little  gentle 
man,  with  as  much  matter  or  muscle  as  we  have, 
for  thinking  and  profiting  by  his  education. 

The  transition  from^ninmlstojnan^n^vjj^. 
le}iC^n?^e:^noio^?n^lUlSr^        was 

^.oflangyageji^    An  anlSl^ftT^ 
^h  much  less  iiiitinct  than  the  others.    In  those 
days,  he  did  not  consider  himself  king  over  the  other 
anhnals,  nor  was  he  distinguished  from    he  ape 
and  from  the  rest,  except  as  the  ape  itself  differs 
?rom  the  other  animals,  i.  e..  by  a  more  mtelhgen 
face     Reduced  to  the  bare  intuitive  knowledge  of 
the  'Leibnizians  he  saw  only  shapes  and  colors, 
without  being  able  to  distinguish  between  them 
The  same,  old'as  young,  child  at  all  ages,  he  hsped 
out  his  sensations  and  his  needs,  as  a  dog  that  is 
Sungry  or  tired  of  sleeping,  asks  for  something  to 

eat  or  for  a  walk.  a    t.     c 

Words,  languages,  laws,  sciences,  and  the  fine 
arts  have  come,  and  by  them  finally  the  rough  dia- 
mond of  our  mind  has  been  pohshed.  Man  has 
been  trained  in  the  same  way  as  animals  He  has 
become  an  author,  as  they  became  beas^"*^"'^^^: 
A  geometrician  has  learned  to  perform  the  most 
difficult  demonstrations  and  calculations,  as  a  mon- 


f 


y^ 


li 


\ 


A 


/ 


t- 


\ 


104 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


key  has  learned  to  take  his  Httle  hat  off  and  on, 
and  to  mount  his  tame  dog.    -AH  has  been  accoqi- 
V-r::plished  through^gns^evsry.  species  has  learned  what 
\       it  could  understand,  and  in  this  way  men  have  ac- 
quired symbolic  knowledge,  still  so  called  by  our 
GernSn'pHiTosophers./^ 
"/-  "C^  Nothinp^.  as  any  one  can  see,  is  so  simple  as_  the-, 
"^        metHamsm  of  our  education.     Everything  may  be 
reduced  to  sounds  or  words  that  pass  from  the 
mouth  of  one  through  the  ears  of  another  into  his 
brain.    At  the  same  moment,  he  perceives  through 
his  eyes  the  shape  of  the  bodies  of  which  these 
words  are  the  arbitrary  signs. 

But  who  was  the  first  to  speak?  Who  was  the 
first  teacher  of  the  human  race  ?  Who  invented  the 
means  of  utilizing  the  plasticity  of  our  organism? 
I  can  not  answer :  the  names  of  these  first  splendid 
geniuses  have  been  lost  in  the  night  of  time.  But 
art  is  the  child  of  nature,  so  nature  must  have  long 
preceded  it. 

We  must  think  that  the  men  who  were  the  most 
highly  organized,  those  on  whom  nature  had  lav- 
ished her  richest  gifts,  taught  the  others.  They 
could  not  have  heard  a  new  sound  for  instance,  nor 
experienced  new  sensations,  nor  been  struck  by  all 
the  varied  and  beautiful  objects  that  compose  the 
ravishing  spectacle  of  nature  without  finding  them- 
selves in  the  state  of  mind  of  the  deaf  man  of 
Chartres,  whose  experience  was  first  related  by  the 

^        great  Fontenelle,^^  when,  at  forty  years,  he  heard 

for  the  first  time,  the  astonishing  sound  of  bells. 

Would  it  be  absurd  to  conclude  from  this  that 
the  first  mortals  tried  after  the  manner  of  this  deaf 
man,  or  like  animals  and  like  mutes  (another  kind 


c  J 


32-341 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


105 


of  animals),  to  express  their  new  feelings  by  mo- 
tions  depending  on  the  nature  ot  tneir  iiiU^Jlfation, 
and^  therefore  atterwards  by  spontaneous  sounds, 
distmctive  ot  each  animal,  db  LIil  imUu-al  expression 
of  their  surprise,  their  joy,  their  ecstasies  and  their 
needs  ?  For  doubtless  those  whom  nature  endowed 
with  finer  feeling  had  also  greater  facility  in  ex- 
pression. 

That  is  the  way  in  which,  I  think,  men  have  used 
their  feeling  and  their  instinct  to  gain  intelligence 
and  then  have  employed  their  intelligence  to  gain 
knowledge.     Those  are  the  ways,  so  far  as  I  can 
understand  them,  in  which  men  have  filled  the  brain    ^ 
with  the  ideas,  for  the  reception  of  which  nature 
made  it.    Nature  and  man  have  helped  each  other ;  -y- 
and  the  smallest  beginnings  have,  little  by  little, 
increased,  until  everything  in  the  universe  could 
be  as  easily  described  as  a  circle.    -^^  -^ 

As  a  violin  string  or  a  harpsichord  key  vi- 
brates and  gives  forth  sound,  so  the  cerebral  fibres, 
struck  by  waves  of  sound,  are  stimulated  to  render 
or  repeat  the  words  that  strike  them.  And  as 
the  structure  of  the  brain  is  such  that  when  eyes 
well  formed  for  seeing,  have  once  perceived  the  j^^ 
image  of  objects,  the  brain  can  not  help  seeing 
their  images  and  their  differences,  so  ^when  the 
signs  of  these  differences  have  been  traced  or  im- 
printed in  the  brain,  the  soul  necessarily  examines 
their  relations— an  examination  that  would  have 
been  impossible  without  the  discovery  of  signs  or 
the  invention  of  language.  At  the  time  when  the 
universe  was  almost  dumb,  the  soul's  attitude  toward 
all  objects  was  that  of  a  man  without  any  idea 
of  proportion  toward  a  picture  or  a  piece  of  sculp- 


\ 


^^  \^' 


.^^^  A 


vf 


>3^^^"  ^^' 


^ 


/ 


■iiiilil 


IIP' 


106 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


ture,  in  which  he  could  distinguish  nothing;  or  the 
soul  was  like  a  little  child  (for  the  soul  was  then 
in  its  infancy  )  who,  holding  in  his  hand  small  bits 
of  straw  or  wood,  sees  them  in  a  vague  and  super- 
ficial way  without  being  able  to  count  or  distinguish 
them.  But  let  some  one  attach  a  kind  of  banner, 
or  standard,  to  this  bit  of  wood  (which  perhaps  is 
called  a  mast),  and  another  banner  to  another  similar 
object ;  let  the  first  be  known  by  the  symbol  1,  and  the 
second  by  the  symbol  or  number  2,  then  the  child 
will  be  able  to  count  the  objects,  and  in  this  way 
he  will  learn  all  of  arithmetic.  As  soon  as  one 
figure  seems  equal  to  another  in  its  numerical  sign, 
he  will  decide  without  difficulty  that  they  are  two 
different  bodies,  that  1  +  1  make  2,  and  2  +  2  make 
4,*  etc. 

This  real  or  apparent  likeness  of  figures  is  the 
fundamental  basis  of  all  truths  and  of  all  we  know. 
Among  these  sciences,  evidently  those  whose  signs 
are  less  simple  and  less  sensible  are  harder  to 
understand  than  the  others,  because  more  talent  is 
required  to  comprehend  and  combine  the  immense 
number  of  words  by  which  such  sciences  express 
the  truths  in  their  province.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  sciences  that  are  expressed  by  numbers  or  by 
other  small  signs,  are  easily  learned;  and  without 
doubt'  this  facility  rather  than  its  demonstrability 
is  what  has  made  the  fortune  of  algebra. 

All  this  knowledge,  with  which  vanity  fills  the 
balloon-like  brains  of  our  proud  pedants,  is  there- 
fore but  a  huge  mass  of  words  and  figures,  which 
form  in  the  brain  all  the  marks  by  which  we  dis- 

*  There  are  peoples,  even  to-day,  who,  through  lack  of  a 
greater  number  of  signs,  can  count  only  to  20. 


34-36] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


107 


tinguish  and  recall  objects.  All  our  ideas  are  awak- 
ened after  the  fashion  in  which  the  gardener  who 
knows  plants  recalls  all  stages  of  their  growth  at 
sight  of  them.  These  words  and  the  objects  desig- 
nated by  them  are  so  connected  in  the  brain  that  it  is 
comparatively  rare  to  imagine  a  thing  without  the 
name  or  sign  that  is  attached  to  it. 

I  always  use  the  word  "imagine,"  because  I  think 
that  everything  is  the  work  of  imagination,  and 
that  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul  can  be  correctly 
reduced  to  pure  imagination  in  which^  they  all  con- 
^sist.3^     Thus  judgment,  reason,  andlnemory  are 
not  absolute  parts  of  the  soul,  but  merely  modi- 
fications of  this  kind  of  medullary  screen    upon 
which  images  of  the  objects  painted  in  the  eye  are 
'  projected  as  by  a  magic  lantern. 
^  But  if  such  is  the  marvelous  and  incomprehen- 
sible  result  of  the  structure  of  the  brain,  if  every- 
j  thing  is  perceived  and  explained  by  imagination, 
i  why  should  we  divide  the  sensitive  principle  which 
thinks  in  man?     Is  not  this  a  clear  inconsistency 
m  the  partisans  of  the  simplicity  of  the  mind? 
For  a  thing  that  is  divided  can  no  longer  without 
absurdity  be  regarded  as  indivisible.     See  to  what 
^one  is  brought  by  the  abuse  of  language  and  by 
j those  fine  words   (spirituality,  immateriality,  etc.) 
used  haphazard  and  not  understood  even  by  the 
most  brilliant^ 

Nothing  is  easier  than  to  prove  a  system  based,  as 
this  one  is,  on  th^  intimate  feeljn_g  ani_personal 
experience  of_eachJndividual.  If  the  imagination, 
or,  let  us  say,  that  fantastic  part  of  the  brain  whose 
nature  is  as  unknown  to  us  as  its  way  of  acting,  be 
naturally  small  or  weak,  it  will  hardly  be  able  to 


4 


V 


'^ 


.N^* 


\ 


l\ 


#    <- 


-—  < 


f 


>     #f«*V 


li 


^J 


\ 


^v^' 


^ 


\^W^ 


h 


108 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


compare  the  analogy  or  the  resemblance  of  its  ideas, 
it  will  be  able  to  see  only  what  is  face  to  face  with 
it,  or  what  affects  it  very  strongly;  and  how  will 
it  see  all  this!  Yet  it  is  always  imagination  which 
apperceives,  and  imagmation  which  represents  to 
itself  all  objects  along  with  their  names  and  sym- 
bols; and  thus,  once  again,  imagination  is  the  soul, 
since  it  plays  all  the  roles  of  the  soul.  By  the  im- 
agination, by  its  flattering  brush,  the  cold  skeleton 
of  reason  takes  on  living  and  ruddy  flesh,  by  the 
imagination  the  sciences  flourish,  the  arts  are 
adorned,  the  wood  speaks,  the  echoes  sigh,  the 
rocks  weep,  marble  breathes,  and  all  inanimate  ob- 
!£ts  gain  \iie,^t  is  imagination  again  which  adds 
the  piquant  charm  of  voluptuousness  to  the  tender- 
ness of  an  amorous  heart;  which  makes  tenderness 
bud  in  the  study  of  the  philosopher  and  of  the 
dusty  pedant,  which,  in  a  wor^,  creates  scholars  as 
well  as  orators  and  poets.  ^^^Foolishly  decried  by 
some,  vainly  praised  by  others,  and  misunderstood 
by  all ;  it  follows  not  only  in  the  train  of  the  graces 
and  of  the  fine  arts,  it  not  only  describes,  but  can 
also  measure  nature.  It  reasons,  judges,  analyzes, 
compares,  and  investigates.  Could  it  feel  so  jceenly 
the  beauties  of  the  pictures  drawn  tor  it^_unlgsS-Jt 
fliscovered.  their  relations?  No,  Jusi  asucan  not 
turn  its  thoughts^on  tfie'pleasures  of  the  senses, 
without  enjoying  their  perfection  or  their  volup- 
tuousness, it  can  not  reflect  on  what  it  has  mechan- 
ically conceived,  without  thus  being  judgment  it- 
self. 

The  more  the  imagination  or  the  poorest  talent 
is  exercised,  the  more  it  gains  in  embonpoint,  so  to 
speak,  and  the  larger  it  grows.     It  becomes  sensi- 


// 


V 

V' 


36-38] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


109 


tive,  robust,  broad,  and  capable  of  thinking.     The 
best  of  organisms  has  need  of  this  exercise. 

,  ^\  Man's  preeminent  advantage  is  his  organism.  ^^ 
In  vain  all  writers  of  books  on  morals  fail  to  re- 
gard as  praiseworthy  those  qualities  that  come  by 
nature,  esteeming  only  the  talents  gained  by  dint 
of  reflection  and  industry.  For  whence  come,  I 
ask,  skill,  learning,  and  virtue,  if  not  from  a  dis- 
position that  makes  us  fit  to  become  skilful,  wise 
and  virtuous?  And  whence  again,  comes  this  dis- 
position, if  not  from  nature?  ^  Only  through  nature 
do  we  have  any  good  qualities;  to  her  we  owe  all 
that  we  are.  ^  Why  then  should  I  not  esteem  men 
with  good  natural  qualities  as  much  as  men  who 
shine  by  acquired  and  as  it  were  borrowed  virtues? 
Whatever  the  virtue  may  be,  from  whatever  source 
it  may  come,  it  is  worthy  of  esteem ;  the  only  ques- 
tion is,  how  to  estimate  it.  Mind,  beauty,  wealth, 
nobility,  although  the  children  of  chance,  all  have 
their  own  value,  as  skill,  learning  and  virtue  have 
theirs.  Those  upon  whom  nature  has  heaped  her 
most  costly  gifts  should  pity  those  to  whom  these 
gifts  have  been  refused;  but,  in  their  character  of 
experts,  they  may  feel  their  superiority  without 
pride.  A  beautiful  woman  would  be  as  foolish  to 
think  herself  ugly,  as  an  intelligent  man  to  think 
himself  a  fool.  An  exaggerated  modesty  (a  rare 
fault,  to  be  sure)  is  a  kind  of  ingratitude  towards 
nature.  An  honest  pride,  on  the  contrary,  is  the 
mark  of  a  strong  and  beautiful  soul,  revealed  by 
rnanly  features  moulded  by  feeling.  -  '^ 
^  If  one's  organism  is  an  advantage,  and  the  pre- 
/  eminent  advantage,  and  the  source  of  all  others, 

X '   education  is  the  second.  'The  best  made  brain  would 


/ 


\ 


\ 


I 


i^ 


7 


/ 


110 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


be  a  total  loss  without  it,  just  as  the  best  con- 
stituted man  would  be  but  a  common  peasant,  with- 
out knowledge  of  the  ways  of  the  world.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  what  would  be  the  use  of  the  most 
excellent  school,  without  a  matrix  perfectly  open 
to  the  entrance  and  conception  of  ideas?  It  is 
....  impossible  to  impart  a  single  idea  to  a  man 
deprived  of  all  his  senses 

But  if  the  brain  is  at  the  same  time  well  organized 
and  well  educated,  it  is  a  fertile  soil,  well  sown, 
that  brings  forth  a  hundredfold  what  it  has  re- 
ceived: or  (to  leave  the  figures  of  speech  often 
f  needed  to  express  what  one  means,  and  to  add  grace 
to  truth  itself)  the  imagination,  raised  by  art  to  the 
rare  and  beautiful  dignity  of  genius,  apprehends 
exactly  all  the  relations  of  the  ideas  it  has  con- 
ceived, and  takes  in  easily  an  astounding  number  of 
^bjects,  in  order  to  deduce  from  them  a  long  chain 
of  consequences,  which  are  again  but  new  relations, 
produced  by  a  comparison  with  the  first,  to  which 
the  soul  finds  a  perfect  resemblance.  Such.is^_I^ 
think,  the  generation  of  intelligence*^^  I  say  "finds" 
as  I  before  gave  the  epithet  "apparent"  to  the 
likeness  of  objects,  not  because  I  think  that  our 
senses  are  always  deceivers,  as  Father  Malebranche 
has  claimed,  or  that  our  eyes,  naturally  a  little  un- 
steady, fail  to  see  objects  as  they  are  in  themselves, 
(though  microscopes  prove  this  to  us  everyday)  but 
in  order  to  avoid  any  dispute  with  the  Pyrrtlon- 
ians^^j^^mong  whom  Bayle^l^is  well  known. 

I  say  of  truth  in  general  what  M.  de  Fontenelle 
says  of  certain  truths  in  particular,  that  we  must 
sacrifice  it  in  order  to  remain  on  good  terms  with 
society.    And  it  accords  with  the  gentleness  of  my 


38-40] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


Ill 


charact|r,  to  avoid  all  disputes  unless  to  whet  conver- 
sation, ^he  Cartesians  would  here  in  vain  make  an 
onset  upon  me  with  their  innate  ideas)  I  certainly 
would  not  give  myself  a  quarter  of  the  trouble  that 
M.  Locke  took,  to  attack  such  chimeras^  In  truth, 
what  is  the  use  of  writing  a  ponderous  volume  to 
prove  a  doctrine  which  became  an  axiom  three  thou- 
sand years  ago? 

According  to  the  principles  which  we  have  laid 
down,  and  which  we  consider  true  '*he  who  has  the 
most  imagination  should  be  regarded  as  having  th^ 
J  most  intelligence  or  genius?^f  or  all  these  words  are 
synonymous;  and  again,  only  by  a  shameful  abuse 
[of  terms]  do  we  think  that  we  are  saying  different 
things,  when  we  are  merely  using  different  words, 
different  sounds,  to  which  no  idea  or  real  distinction 
IS  attached. 

The  finest,  greatest,  or  strongest  imagination  is 
then  the  one  most  suited  to  the  sciences  as  well  as 
to  the  arts.  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  whether  more 
intellect  is  necessary  to  excel  in  the  art  of  Aris- 
totle or  of  Descartes  than  to  excel  in  that  of  Eu- 
ripides or  of  Sophocles,  and  whether  nature  has 
taken  more  trouble  to  make  Newton  than  to  make 
Corneille,  though  I  doubt  this.  'But  it  is  certain 
that  imagination  alone,  differently  applied,  has  pro- 
duced their  diverse  triumphs  and  their  immortal 
glory.  '^  V  ^^ 

a  one  is  known  as  having  little  judgment  and 
much  imagination,  this  means  that  the  imagination 
has  been  left  too  much  alone,  has,  as  it  were  oc- 
cupied most  of  the  time  in  looking  at  itself  in 
the  mirror  of  its  sensations,  has  not  sufficiently 
formed  the  habit  of  examining  the  sensations  them- 


h'»^ 


T 


^ 


\ 


; 


I 


112 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


selves  attentively.  [It  means  that  the  imagination] 
has  been  more  impressed  by  images  than  by  their 
truth  or  their  likeness.  ,   ,     • 

Truly,  so  quick  are  the  responses  of  the  imagina- 
tion that  if  attention,  that  key  or  mother  of  the 
sciences,  does  not  do  its  part,  imagination  can  do 
little  more  than  run  over  and  skim  its  objects. 

See  that  bird  on  the  bough :  it  seems  always  ready 
to  fly  away.     Imagination  is  like  the  bird,  always 
carried  onward  by  the  turmoil  of  the  blood  and  the 
animal  spirits.    One  wave  leaves  a  mark,  effaced  by 
the  one  that  follows;  the  soul  pursues  it,  often  m 
vain :  it  must  expect  to  regret  the  loss  of  that  which 
I  it  has  not  quickly  enough  seized  and  fixed.    Thus, 
I  imagination,  the  true  image  of  time,  is  being  cease- 
'ilessly  destroyed  and  renewed. 
}    Such  is  the  chaos  and  the  continuous  quick  suc- 
cession of  our  ideas:  they  drive  each  other  away 
^  even  as  one  wave  yields  to  another.    Therefore,  if 
"imagination  does  not,  as  it  were,  use  one  set  of  its 
muscles  to  maintain  a  kind  of  equilibrium  with  the 
fibres  of  the  brain,  to  keep  its  attention  for  a  while 
upon  an  object  that  is  on  the  point  of  disappearing, 
and  to  prevent  itself  from  contemplating  prema- 
turely another  object— [unless  the  imagination  does 
all  this] ,  it  will  never  be  worthy  of  the  fine  name 
of  judgment.     It  will  express  vividly  what  it  has 
perceived  in  the  same  fashion:  it  will  create  orators, 
musicians,  painters,  poets,  but  never  a  single  philos- 
opher.    On  the  contrary,    if  the  imagination  be 
trained  from  childhood  to  bridle  itself  and  to  keep 
from  being  carried  away  by  its  own  impetuosity— 
an  impetuosity  which  creates  only  brilliant  enthu- 
siasts—and to  check,  to  restrain,  its  ideas,  to  exam- 


I 


i^ 


h\ 


it 


40-42] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


113 


/ 


ine  them  in  all  their  aspects  in  order  to  see  all  sides 
of  an  object,  then  the  imagination,  ready  in  judg- 
ment, will  comprehend  the  greatest  possible  sphere 
of  objects,  through  reasoning;  and  its  vivacity  (al- 
ways so  good  a  sign  in  children,  and  only  needing 
to  be  regulated  by  study  and  training)  will  be  only 
a  far-seeing  insight  without  which  little  progress 
can  be  made  in  the  sciences. 

Such  are  the  simple  foundations  upon  which  the 
edifice  of  logic  has  been  reared.  Nature  has  built 
these  foundations  for  the  whole  human  race,  but 
some  have  used  them,  while  others  have  abused 
them. 

'In  spite  of  all  these  advantages  of  man  over  ani- 
mals, it  is  doing  him  honor  to  place  him  in  the. 
same  class.  For,  truly,  up  to  a  certain  age,  he  is 
more  of  an  animal  than  they,  since  at  birth  he  has 
less  instinct.  What  animal  would  die  of  hunger  in 
the  midst  of  a  river  of  milk?  Man  alone.^^  Like 
that  child  of  olden  time  to  whom  a  modern  writer, 
refers,  following  Arnobius^he  knows  neither  the 
foods  suitable  for  him,  nor  the  water  that  can 
drown  him,  nor  the  fire  that  can  reduce  him  to 
ashes.  Light  a  wax  candle  for  the  first  time  under 
a  child's  eyes,  and  he  will  mechanically  put  his 
fingers  in  the  flame  as  if  to  find  out  what  is  the 
new  thing  that  he  sees.  It  is  at  his  own  cost  that 
he  will  learn  of  the  danger,  but  he  will  not  be  caught 
again.  Or,  put  the  child  with  an  animal  on  a  preci- 
pice, the  child  alone  falls  off;  he  drowns  where 
the  animal  would  save  itself  by  swimming.  At  four- 
teen or  fifteen  years  the  child  knows  hardly  anything 
of  the  great  pleasures  in  store  for  him,  in  the  re- 
production of  his  species;  when  he  is  a  youth,  he 


v^ 


114 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


.42-44] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


115 


'    "^  ^:?^ 


does  not  know  exactly  how  to  behave  in  a  game 
which  nature  teaches  animals  so  quickly.    He  hides 
himself  as  if  he  were  ashamed  of  taking  pleasure, 
and  of  having  been  made  to  be  happy,  while  animals 
frankly  glory  in  being  cynics.    Without  education, 
they  are  without  prejudices.     For  one  more  ex- 
ample, let  us  observe  a  dog  and  a  child  who  have 
lost  their  master  on  a  highway:    the  child  cries 
and  does  not  know  to  what  saint  to  pray,  while  the 
dog,  better  helped  by  his  sense  of  smell  than  the 
child  by  his  reason,  soon  finds  his  master.  A-^ 
r^hus  nature  made  us  to  be  lower  than  animals 
\)r  at  least  to  exhibit  all  the  more,  because  of  that 
native  inferiority,  the  wonderful  efficacy  of  edu- 
cation which  alone  raises  us  from  the  level  of  the 
animals  and  lifts  us  above  them.N^ut  shall  we  grant 
this  same  distinction  to  the  deaf  and  to  the  blind, 
to  imbeciles,  madmen,  or  savages,  or  to  those  who 
have  been  brought  up  in  the  woods  with  animals; 
to  those  who  have  lost  their  imagination  through 
melancholia,  or  in  short  to  all  those  animals  in 
human  form  who  give  evidence  of  only  the  rudest 
instinct?     No,  all  these,  men  of  body  but  not  of 
mind,  do  not  deserve  to  be  classed  by  themselves. 

We  do  not  intend  to  hide  from  ourselves  the 
arguments  that  can  be  brought  forward  against  our 
belief  and  in  favor  of  a  primitiyedistinction  between 
men  and  animals.  -  Some  say  that  there  is  in  man 
a  natural  law,  a  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  which 
has  never  been  imprinted  on  the  heart  of  animals. 

But  is  this  objection,  or  rather  this  assertion,  based 
on  observation?  Any  assertion  unfounded_on _ob- 
servation  may  be  rejected  byT  philosopher.  Have 
we  ever  had  a  single  experience  which  convinces 


us  that  man  alone  has  been  enlightened  by  a  ray 
denied  all  other  animals?  If  there  is  no  such  expe- 
rience, we  can  no  more  know  what  goes  on  in  ani- 
mals' minds  or  even  in  the  minds  of  other  men, 
than  we  can  help  feeling  what  affects  the  inner  part 
of  our  own  being.  We  know  that  we  think,  and 
feel  remorse— an  intimate  feeling  forces  us  to  rec- 
ognize this  only  too  well ;  but  this  feeling  in  us  is 
insufficient  to  enable  us  to  judge  the  remorse  of 
others.  That  is  why  we  have  to  take  others  at 
their  word,  or  judge  them  by  the  sensible  and  exter- 
nal signs  we  have  noticed  in  ourselves  when  we 
experienced  the  same  accusations  of  conscience  and 

the  same  torments. 

In  order  to  decide  whether  animals  which  do  not 
talk  have  received  the  natural  law,  we  must,  there- 
fore, have  recourse  to  those  signs  to  which  I  have 
just  referred,  if  any  such  exist.    The  facts  seem  to 
prove  it..-  A  dog  that  bit  the  master  who  was  teas- 
ing it,  seemed  to  repent  a  minute  afterwards;  it 
looked  sad,  ashamed,  afraid  to  show  itself,  and' 
seemed  to  confess  its  guilt    by  a  crouching  and 
downcast  air.    History  offers  us  a  famous  example 
of  a  lion  which'would  not  devour  a  man  abandoned 
to  its  fury,  because  it  recognized  him  as  its  bene- 
factor.    How  much  might  it  be  wished  that  man 
himself  always  showed  the  same  gratitude  for  kind- 
nesses, and  the  same  respect  for  humanity!    Then 
we  should  no  longer  fear  either  ungrateful  wretches, 
or  wars  which  are  the  plague  of  the  human  race 
and  the  real  executioners  of  the  natural  law. 

But  a  being  to  which  nature  has  given  such  a 
precocious  and  enlightened  instinct,  which  judges, 
combines,  reasons,  and  deliberates  as  far  as  the 


y>'i' 


-\ 


116 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


_\ 


Ni 
* 


^ 


Sphere  of  its  activity  extends  and  permits,  a  being 
which  feels  attachment  because  of  benefits  received, 
and  which  leaving  a  master  who  treats  it  badly  goes 
to  seek  a  better  one,  a  being  with  a  structure  like 
ours,  which  performs  the  same  acts,  has  the  same 
passions,  the  same  griefs,  the  same  pleasures,  more 
or  less  intense  according  to  the  sway  of  the  imagina- 
tion and  the  delicacy  of  the  nervous  organization — 
l\  does  not  such  a  being  show  clearly  that  it  knows  its 
faults  and  ours,  understands  good  and  evil,  and  in  a 
word,  has  consciousness  of  what  it  does  ?  Would  its 
soul,  which  feels  the  same  joys,  the  same  mortifica- 
tion and  the  same  discomfiture  which  we  feel,  remain 
/Utterly  unmoved  by  disgust  when  it  saw  a  fellow- 
/  creature  torn  to  bits,  or  when  it  had  itself  pitilessly 
dismembered  this  fellow  -  creature  ?  If  this  be 
granted,  it  follows  that  the  precious  gift  now  in 
question  would  not  have  been  denied  to  animals :  for 
since  they  show  us  sure  signs  of  repentance,'  as 
well  as  of  intelligence,  whatsis  there  absurd  in  think- 
ing that  beings,  almost  as~p'erTect  machines  as  our- 
selves, are,  like  us,  made  to  understand  and  to  feel 
ature  ? 
Let  no  one  object  that  animals,  for  the  most  part, 
are  savage  beasts,  incapable  of  realizing  the  evil 
that  they  do;  for  do  all  men  discriminate  better 
between  vice  and  virtue?  There  is  ferocity  in  our 
species  as  well  as  in  theirs.  Men  who  are  in  the 
i)arbarous  habit  of  breaking  the  natural  law  are 
not  tormented  as  much  by  it,  as  those  who  trans- 
gress it  for  the  first  time,  and  who  have  not  been 
hardened  by  the  force  of  habit.  The  same  thing  is 
true  of  animals  as  of  men — both  may  be  more  or 
less  ferocious  in  temperament,  and  both  become 


44-46] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


117 


more  so  by  living  with  others  like  themselves.  But 
a  gentle  and  peaceful  animal  which  lives  among 
other  animals  of  the  same  disposition  and  of  gentle 
nurture,  will  be  an  enemy  of  blood  and  carnage; 
itjwilTWushJntema^^  There 

is  perhaps  this  difference,  that  since  among  animals 
everything  is  sacrificed  to  their  needs,  to  their  pleas- 
ures, to  the  necessities  of  life,  which  they  enjoy 
more  than  we,  their  remorse  apparently^  should  not 
be  as  keen  as  ours,  because  we  are  not  in  the  same 
state  of  necessity  as  they.     Custom  perhaps  dulls 
and  perhaps  stifles  remorse  as  well  as  pleasures. 
1      But  I  will  suppose  for  a  moment  that  I  am  utterly 
mistaken  in  concluding  that  almost  all  the  world 
holds  a  wrong  opinion  on  this  subject,  while  I  alone 
am  right.    I  will  grant  that  animals,  even  the  best 
of  them,  do  not  know  the  difference  between  moral 
good  and  evil,  that  they  have  no  recollection  of  the 
trouble  taken  for  them,  of  the  kindness  done  them, 
no  realization  of  their  own  virtues.  [I  will  suppose], 
for  instance,  that  this  lion,  to  which  I,  like  so  many 
others,  have  referred,  does  not  remember  at  all  that 
it  refused  to  kill  the  man,  abandoned  to  its  fury,  in 
a  combat  more  inhuman  than  one  could  find  among 
lions,  tigers  and  bears,  put  together.    For  our  com- 
patriots fight,  Swiss  against  Swiss,  brother  against 
brother,  recognize  each  other,  and  yet  capture  and 
kill  each  other  without  remorse,  because  a  prince  pays 
for  the  murder.   I  suppose  in  short  that  the  natural 
law  has  not  been  given  animals.    Whatjvill  be  the 
consequences  of  this    supposition  ?  »^ (fen,  is    not 
moulded  from  a  costlier  clay;  nature  has  used  but 
one   dough,    and   has   merely   varied   the   leaven. 
Therefore  if  animals  do  not  repent  for  having  vio- 


0' 


-^     f 


t  'I 


^mf 


118 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


46.48] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


119 


lated  this  inmost  feeling  which  I  am  discussing,  or 
rather  if  they  absolutely  lack  it,  man  must  neces- 
sarily be  in  the  same  condition.  Farewell  then  to 
the  natural  law  and  all  the  fine  treatises  published 
about  it!  'The  whole  animal  kingdom  in  general 
would  be  deprived  of  it.  But,  conversely,  if  man  can 
not  dispense  with  the  belief  that  when  health  permits 
him  to  be  himself,  he  always  distinguishes  the  up- 
right, humane,  and  virtuous,  from  those  who  are  not 
humane,  virtuous,  nor  honorable:  that  it  is  easy 
1  to  tell  vice  from  virtue,  by  the  unique  pleasure  and 
)  the  peculiar  repugnance  that  seem  to  be  their  natural 
effects,  it  follows  that  animals,  composed  of  the 
same  matter,  lacking  perhaps  only  one  degree  of 
fermentation  to  make  it  exactly  like  man's,  must 
share  the  same  prerogatives  of  animal  nature,  and 
that  thus  there  exists  no  soul  or  sensitive  substance 
without  remorse.^^  The  following  consideration 
will  reinforce  these  observations.    *  ^ 

It  isimpossjble  to  destroy  the  natural  law.  The 
impress  ot  it  on  all  animals  is  so  strong,  that  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  wildest  and  most  savage  have 
some  moments  of  repentance.  I  believe  that  that 
cruel  maid  of  Chalons  in  Champagne  must  have 
or  rowed  for  her  crime,  if  she  really  ate  her  sistejij 
1  think  that  the  same  thing  is  Irue  of  all  those  who 
commit  crimes,  even  involuntary  or  temperamental 
crimes:  true  of  Gaston  of  Orleans  who  could  not 
help  stealing;  of  a  certain  woman  who  was  subject 
to  the  same  crime  when  pregnant,  and  whose  chil- 
dren inherited  it;  of  the  woman  who,  in  the  same 
condition,  ate  her  husband;  of  that  other  woman 
who  killed  her  children,  salted  their  bodies,  and  ate 
a  piece  of  them  every  day,  as  a  little  relish ;  of  that 


^ 


daughter  of  a  thief  and  cannibal  who  at  twelve 
years  followed  in  his  steps,  although  she  had  been 
orphaned  when  she  was  a  year  old,  and  had  been 
brought  up  by  honest  people;  to  say  nothing  of 
many  other  examples  of  which  the  records_Qf_Qur 
observers  are  full,  all  of  them  proving  that  there 
/  are  a  thousand  hereditary  vices  arid  virtues  which 
j  are  transmitted  from  parents  to  children  as  those 
of  the  foster  mother  pass  to  the  children  she  nurses. 
Now,  I  believe  and  admit  that  these  wretches  do 
not  for  the  most,  part  feel  at  the  time  the  enormity 
of  their  actions.  rBulimia,  or  canine  hunger,  for  ex- 
ample, can  stifle  all  feeling;  it  is  a  mania  of  the 
stomach  that  one  is  compelled  to  satisfy,  but  what 
remorse  must  be  in  store  for  those  women,  when 
they  come  to  themselves  and  grow  sober,  and  re- 
member the  crimes  they  have  committed  against  those 
they  held  most  dear!  What  a  punishment  for  an 
involuntary  crime  which  they  could  not  ijsijt,  of 
which  they_had  no  consciousness  whatever!  How- 
ever, this  is  apparently  not  enough  for  the  judges. 
For  of  these  women,  of  whom  I  tell,  one  was  cruelly 
beaten  and  burned,  and  another  was  buried  alive, 
realize  all  that  is  demanded  by  the  interest  of  so- 
ciety. But  doubtless  it  is  much  to  be  wished__that 
excellenij)hysicians  might  be  the  only  judges.  They 
alone  cpuld  tell  the  innocent  criminal  from  the 
guilty.  ILreason  is  the  slave  of  a  depraved  or  mad 
Lesire,  how  can  it  control  the  desire? J  ^(^ 

But  if  crime  carries  with  it  its  own  more  or  less 
cruel  punishment,  if  the  most  continued  and  most 
barbarous  habit  can  not  entirely  blot  out  repent- 
ance in  the  crudest  hearts,  if  criminals  are  lacerated 
by  the  very  memory  of  their  deeds,  why  should  we 


V 


^> 


120 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


48-50] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


121 


7 


frighten  the  imagination  of  weak  minds,  by  a  hell, 
by  specters,  and  by  precipices  of  fire  even  less  real 
than  those  of  Pascal  ?*  Why  must  we  have  recourse 
^sTas  an  honest  pope  once  said  himself,  to 
torment  even  the  unhappy  wretches  who  are  exe- 
cuted, because  we  do  not  think  that  they  are  suffi- 
ciently punished  by  their  own  conscience,  their  first 
executioner?  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  all  crim- 
inals are  unjustly  punished;  I  only  maintain  that 
those  whose  will  is  depraved,  and  whose  conscience 
IS  extinguished,  are  punished  enough  by  their  re- 
morse when  they  come  to  themselves,  a  remorse, 
I  venture  to  assert,  from  which  nature  should  in 
this  case  have  delivered  unhappy  souls  dragged  on 
by  a  fatal  necessity. 

Criminals,  scoundrels,  ingrates,  those  in  short 
without  natural  feelings,  unhappy  tyrants  who  are 
unworthy  of  life,  in  vain  take  a  cruel  pleasure  in 
their  barbarity,  for  there  are  calm  moments  of  re- 
flection in  which  the  avenging  conscience  arises, 
testifies  against  them,  and  condemns  them  to  be 
almost  ceaselessly  torn  to  pieces  at  their  own  hands, 
/itv^hoever  torments  men  is  tormented  by  himself; 
and  the  sufferings  that  he  will  experience  will  be 
the  just  measure  of  those  that  he  has  inflicted.  •  ' 
vjOn  the  other  hand,  there  is  so  much  pleasure  in 

♦In  a  company,  or  at  table,  he  always  required  a  rampart 
of  chairs  or  else  some  one  close  to  him  at  the  left,  to  prevent 
his  seeing  horrible  abysses  into  which  (in  spite  of  his  under- 
standing these  illusions)  he  sometimes  feared  that  he  might 
fall.  What  a  f^JfjllM  Ifg^lt  of  imagination.  or-MJlie^-Peciir, 
liar  circulation  in  a  lob£x^  the  hraial  Great  man  on  one  side  of 
his  nature,  on  the  other  he  was  half-mad.  Madness  and  wisdom, 
each  had  its  compartment,  or  its  lobe,  the  two  separated  by 
a  fissure.  Which  was  the  side  by  which  he  was  so  strongly 
attached  to  Messieurs  of  Port  Royal?  (I  have  read  this  in  an 
extract  from  the  treatise  on  vertigo  by  M.  de  la  Mettrie.) 


,  y  ■■'* 

' :'S 


t-. 


doing  good,  in  recognizing  and  appreciating  what 
one  receives,  so  much  satisfaction  in  practising  vir- 
tue, in  being  gentle,  humane,  kind,  charitable,  com- 
passionate and  generous  ( for  this  one  word  includes 
all  the  virtues),  that  I  consider  as  sufficiently  pun- 
ished any  one  who  is  unfortunate  enough  not  to 
have  been  born  virtuous. 

We  were  not  originally  made  to  be  learned;  we 
have  become  so  perhaps  by  a  sort  of  abuse  of  our 
organic  faculties,  and  at  the  expense  of  the  State 
which  nourishes  a  host  of^Tuggardg^hom  vanity 
has  adorned  with  the  nameSf^iilosophers.  Nature 
has  created  us  all  solely  to  be  happy^^ — yes,  all  of 
us  from  the  crawling  worm  to  the  eagle  lost  in  the 
cloulds.  xFor  this  cause  she  has  given  all  animals 
some  sh^re  of  natural  law,  a  share  greater  or  less 
according  to  the  needs  of  each  animars  organs  when 
irh  normal  condition.  ^<^ 

'  Now  how  shall  we  define  natural  law?  jLis  a 
feeling  that  teaches  us  what  w^should  not  do,  be- 
cause we  would  not  wish  it  to  be  done  to  us.  Should 
I  dare  add  to  this  common  idea,  that  this  feeling 
seems  to  me  but  a  kind  of  fear  or  dread,  as  salutary 
to  the  race  as  to  the  individual;  for  may  it  not  be 
true  that  we  respect  the  purse  and  life  of  others 
only  to  save  our  own  possessions,  our  honor,  and 
ourselves;  like  those  Ixions  of  Christianity^^  who 
love  God  and  embrace  so  many  fantastic  virtues, 
merely  because  they  are  afraid  of  hell!     _\ 

You  see  that  natural  law  is  but  an  intimate  feel- 
ing that,  like  all  other  feelings  (thought  included), 
belongs  also  to  imagination.  Evidently,  therefore, 
natural  law  does  not  presuppose  education,  revela- 
tion, nor  legislator, — ^provided  one  does  not  propose 


'  I 


c 


\ 


\i 


\ 


— * 

It 


\ 


V 


.i> 


o) 


\M^ 


122 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


to  confuse  natural  law  with  civil  laws,  in  the  ridic- 
ulous fashion  of  the  theologians. 

The  arms  of  fanaticism  may  destroy  those  who 
support  these  truths,  but  they  will  never  destroy  the 
truths  themselves. 

I  do  not  mean  to  call  in  question  the  existence 
of  a  supreme  being ;  on  the  contrary  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  greatest  degree  of  probability  is  in  favor 
of  this  belief.  But  since  the  existence  of  this  being 
goes  no  further  than  that  of  any  other  toward 
proving  the  need  of  worship,  it  is  a  theoretic  truth 
with  very  little  practical  value.  Therefore,  since 
we  may  say,  after  such  long  experience,  that  religion 
does  not  imply  exact  honesty,  we  are  authorized  by 
the  same  reasons  to  think  that  atheism  does  not 
e^^clude  it. 

13iv  Furthermore,  who  can  be  sure  that  the  reason 
f 6r  man's  existence  is  not  simply  the  fact  that  he 
exists  ?^^  Perhaps  he  was  thrown  by  chance  on 
some  spot  on  the  earth's  surface,  nobody  knows 
how  nor  why,  but  simply  that  he  must  live  and 
die,  like  the  mushrooms  which  appear  from  day 
to  day,  or  like  those  flowers  which  border  the 
ditches  and  cover  the  walls.  T 

,  TCet  us  not  lose  ourselves  in  the  infinite,  for  we  are 
not  made  to  have  the  least  idea  thereof,  and  are  abso- 
lutely unable  to  get  back  to  the  origin  of  things. 

f  Besides  it  does  not  matter  for  our  peace  of  mind, 
whether  matter  be  eternal  or  have  been  created^ 
wfiether  there  be  or  be  not  a  GoJ  How  foolish 
to  torment  ourselves  "SO  much  about  things  which 
we  can  not  know,  and  which  would  not  make  us 
any  happier  even  were  we  to  gain  knowledge  about 
'  em !    \^. 


I 


50-52] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


123 


But,  some  will  say,  read  all  such  works  as  those     ^ 
of  Fenelon,"   of   Nieuwentyt^Lof  Abad.e       of 
Derhani,ii:irRais^and  the  rest.  Well !  what  wil 
they  te-^me  or  rather  what  have  they  taught 
me?    They  are  only  tiresome  repetitions  of  zealous 
writers,  one  of  whom  adds  to  the  other  only  verb- 
iage, more  likely  to  strengthen  than  to  undermine 
the  foundations  of  atheism.     The  number  of  the 
evidences  drawn  from  the  spectacle  of  nature  does        ^»M^ 
not  give  these  evidences  any  more  force.     Either  T>/v«r/^^,  . 
the  mers^tructure  of  a  finger,  of  an  ear,  of  aij.eye^ 

r^n^dToteeTvariorLoLMalsigtufi  ^^°^^fi,^^--~. 
dSubtless  muarbetteTthan  Pescartgs  anjL-Maie^ 
b7SSEi3SSHXoZ3nheWr  evidences  prove 
nothing.vPeists^land  even  CHnstians,  should  there-  • 
f ore~S  content  to  point  out  that  throughout  the 
animal  kingdom  the  same  aims  are  pursued  and 
accomplished  by  an  infinite  number  of  different 
mechanisms,  all  of  them  however  exactly  geomet- 
rical.    For  what  stronger  weaftgns  could  Jherebe 
with  which  to  overthrow  atheists?|)lt  is  tnle  that  it 


^M^ 


h\ 


UiuX 


i 


ASy  reasgmiS-es  not  deceive  TnenBan  and  the  whole    z^,,.,,^^ 
(universe  seem  to  have  been  designed  for  this  unity 
oT' aim.  ^ThTiiH;  air,  water,  the  organism,  the 
shape  of  bodies,-everything  is  brought  to  a  focus 
in  the  eye  as  in  a  mirror  that  faithfully  presents 
\  to  the  imagination  all  the  objects  reflected  in  it,  in 
\  accordance  with  the  laws  required  by  the  infinite 
variety  of  bodies  which  take  part  in  vision.   ^^A 
i  we  find  everywhere  a  striking  variety,  and  yet  the 
'  difference  of  structure  in  men,  animals,  birds,  and 
fishes,  does  not  produce  different  uses.   AH  ears  are 
so  mathematically  made,  that  they  tend  equally  to 
one  and  the  same  end,  namely,  hearing.   But  would 


/ 


124 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


i5^ 


Chance,  the  deist  asks,  be  a  great  enough  geometri- 
cian to  vary  thus,  at  pleasure,  the  works  of  which 
she  is  supposed  to  be  the  author,  without  being  hin- 
dered by  so  great  a  diversity  from  gaining  the  same 
end?  Again,  the  deist  will  bring  forward  as  a 
difficulty Jthose  parts  oLthe  animal  that  are  clearly 
contamed  in  it  for  future  use^he  butterfly  in  the 
caterpillar,  man  in  the  sperm^^awliole  polyp  in  each 
of  its  parts,  tlie  valvule  in  theovaT  orifice,  the  lungs 
in  the  foetus,  the^teetH~m"tTieir  sockets,  the  bones  jn 
the^ fluid  from  which  they  detach  themselves  and 
(in  aa.Jncomprehensible  manner)  harden.  And 
since  the  partisans  of  this  theory,  far  from  neglect- 
ing anything  that  would  strengthen  it,  never  tire 
of  piling  up  proof  upon  proof,  they  are  willing 
to  avail  themselves  of  everything,  even  of  the 
weakness  of  the  mind  in  certain  cases.  Look, 
they  say,  at  men  like  Spinoza,  Vanini,^^  Desbar- 
reau."*^  and  Boindin,^^  apostles  who^honor  deism 
more  than  they  harm  IE  The  duration  of  their 
health  was  the  measure  of  their  unbelief,  and  one 
rarely  fails,  they  add,  to  renounce  atheism  when 
the  passions,  with  their  instrument,  the  body,  have 
grown  weak. 

That  is  certainly  the  most  that  can  be  said  in 
favor  of  the  existence  of  God :  although  the  last  argu- 
ment is  frivolous  in  that  these  conversions  are  short, 
and  the  mind  almost  always  regains  its  former  opin- 
ions and  acts  accordingly,  as  soon  as  it  has  regained 
or  rather  rediscovered  its  strength  in  that  of  the 
body.  That  is,  at  least,  much  more  than  was  said 
by  the  physician  Diderot,^*  in  his  "Pensees  Philo- 
sophiques,"  a  sublime  work  that  will  not  convince 
a  singk  atheist.     What  reply  can,  in  truth,   be 


52-541 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


.125  J 


made  to  a  man  who  says,' "We  do  not  know  nature; 
causes  hidden  in  her  breast  might  have  produced 
everything.  Inj^ur  turn,  observe  the  polyp  of  Trem- 
bley  :^Moes  it  not  contain  in  itself  the  causes  which 
bring  aboutjegeneration  ?  Why^  then  "wmM-  it 
be^^ahsurdjojlimk^tha^  causes 

by  reason  of  which  everything  haslfeen  niadergnd 
tq^whid^^  5s 

so  necessarily  bound  and^MTHarrro^ 
happens,  could  have  failed  to  Tiappen,B-rcauses, 
of  which  we  are  so  invincibly  ignorant  that  we 
have  had  recourse  to  a  God,  who,  as  some  aver, 
is  not  so  much  as  a  logical  entity?  Thus  to  de- 
stroy chance  is  not  to  prove  the  existence  of  a 
supreme  being,  since  there  may  be  some  other  thing 
which  is  neither  chance  nor  God — I  mean,  nature. 
It  follows  that  the  study  of  nature  can  make  only 
unbelievers ;  and  the  way  of  thinking  of  all  its  more 
successful  investigators  proves  this." 

The  weight  of  the  universe  therefore  far  from  - 
crushing  a  real  atheist  does  not  even  shake  him. 
All  these  evidences  of  a  creator,  repeated  thousands 
and  thousands  of  times,  evidences  that  are  placed 
far  above  the  comprehension  of  men  like  us,  are 
self-evident  (however  far  one  push  the  argument) 
only  to  the  anti-Pyrrhonians,^or  to  those  who 
have  enough  confidence  in  their  reason  to  believe 
themselves  capable  of  judging  on  the  basis  of  cer- 
tain phenomena,  against  which,  as  you  see,  the  athe- 
ists can  urge  others  perhaps  equally  strong  and  ab- 
solutely opposed.  For  if  we  listen  to  the  naturalists 
again,  they  will  tell  us  that  the  very  causes  which, 
in  a  chemist's  hands,  by  a  chance  combination,  made 
the  first  mirror,  in  the  hands  of  nature  made  the 


-0^ 


1 


l^^• 


^^<^T^. 


^ 


"Lt-A    -^^^-t. 


ftl 


r 
t 


126 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


pure  water,  the  mirror  of  the  simple  shepherdess; 
that  the  motion  which  keeps  the  world  going  could 
have  created  it,  that  each  body  has  taken  the  place 
assigned  to  it  by  its  own  nature^Vthat  the  air  must 
have  surrounded  the  earth,  and  that  iron  and  the 
other  metals  are  produced  by  internal  motions  of 
the  earth,  for  one  and  the  same  reason ;  that  the  sun 
is  as  much  a  natural  product  as  electricity,  that  it 
was  not  made  to  warm  the  earth  and  its  inhabitants, 
whom  it  sometimes  burns,  any  more  than  the  rain 
was  made  to  make  the  seeds  grow,  which  it  often 
spoils ;  that  the  mirror  and  the  water  were  no  more 
made  for  people  to  see  themselves  in,  than  were  all 
other  polished  bodies  with  this  same  property ;  that 
the  eye  is  in  truth  a  kind  of  glass  in  which  the  soul 
can  contemplate  the  imag£_of_ objects  as_fhey_are 
presented  to  it  by  these  bodiesTlBurTHat^it  is  ^ot 
proved  that  this  orgatrwsrs~really_made  "expressly 
for  this  contemplation_^jiQ£jurposely  placed  iix4ts- 
socket,  and  in  short  that  it  mayj^lllSe  that  Lucre- 
tius,^^ the  physictSTT'l^my,^^  and  all  EpicSreans 
both  ancient  and  modern  were  right  when  they 
sugge5ted  that  the  eye  sees  only  because  it  is  fonned 
and  placed  as  it  is,^^  and  that,  given  once  for_all, 
the  s^e  rules  of  motion  followed  by  nature  in  the 
generation  and  development  of  bodies,  this  mar- 
Yflnns  nrgaii^ould  not  have  been  formed  and  placed 
differently.  \^  ~~ 

Such  is  tlie  pro  and  the  con,  and  the  summary 
of  those  fine  arguments  that  will  eternally  divide 
the  philosophers.    I  do  not  take  either  side. 

"Non  nostrum  inter  vos  tantas  componere  lites."" 

This  is  what  I  said  to  one  of  my  friends,  a  French- 


1   1 


"p' 


54-56] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


127 


man,  as  f  rank  a  Pyrrgnian  as^I,  a  man  of  much  merit, 
and  worthy  of^  betfef  tate.  He  gave  me  a  very 
singular  answer  in  regard  to  the  matter.  "It  is 
true,"  he  told  me,  "that  the  pro  and  con  should  not 
disturb  at  all  the  soul  of  a  philosopher,  who  sees 
that  nothing  is  proved  with  clearness  enough  to 
force  his  consent,  and  that  the  arguments  offered 
on  one  side  are  neutraHzed  by  those  of  the  other. 
However,"  he  continued,  "the  universe  will  never 
be  happy,  unless  it  is  atheistic."^^  Here  are  this 
wretch's  reasons.  If  atheism,  said  he,  were  gen- 
erally accepted,  all  the  forms  of  religion  would  then 
be  destroyed  and  cut  off  at  the  roots.  No  more 
theological  wars,  no  more  soldiers  of  religion — such 
terrible  soldiers!  Nature  infected  with  a  sacred 
poison,  would  regain  its  rights  and  its  purity.  Deaf 
to  all  other  voices,  tranquil  mortals  would  follow 
only  the  spontaneous  dictates  of  their  own  being 
the  only  commands  which  can  never  be  despised 
with  impunity  and  which  alone  can  lead  us  to  hap- 
piness through  the  pleasant  paths  of  virtue. 

Such  is  natural  law:  whoever  rigidly  observes 
it  is  a  good  man  and  deserves  the  confidence  of 
all  the  human  race.  Whoever  fails  to  follow  it 
scrupulously  affects,  in  vain,  the  specious  exterior 
of  another  religion;  he  is  a  scamp  or  a  hypocrite 
whom  I  distrust. 

After  this,  let  a  vain  people  think  otherwise,  let 
them  dare  affirm  that  even  probity  is  at  stake  in 
not  believing  in  revelation,  in  a  word  that  another 
religion  than  that  of  nature  is  necessary,  whatever 
it  may  be.  Such  an  assertion  is  wretched  and  piti- 
able; and  so  is  the  good  opinion  which  each  one 
gives  us  of  the  religion  he  has  embraced!    We  do 


i 


128 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


56-58] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


129 


^^V^-^thc- 


.KAy^ 


■-..--A 


■^ 


y^^. 


-f     <IL^ 


V 


not  seek  here  the  votes  of  the  crowd.  Whoever 
raises  in  his  heart  altars  to  superstition,  is  born  to 
orship  idols  and  not  to  thrill  to  virtue. 
ji  But  since  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul  depend  to 
Tsuch  a  degree  on  the  proper  organization  of  the 
V  brain  and  of  the  whole  body,  that  apparently  they 
Ure  but  this  organization  itself,  the  soul  is  clearly 
an  enlightened  machine.  For  finally,  even  if  man 
alone  had  received  a  share  of  natural  law,  would 
he  be  any  less  a  machine  for  that?  A  few  more 
wheels,  a  few  more  springs  than  in  the  most  perfect 
animals,  the  brain  proportionally  nearer  the  heart 
and  for  this  very  reason  receiving  more  blood — 
any  one  of  a  number  of  unknown  causes  might  al- 
ways produce  this  delicate  conscience  so  easily 
wounded,  this  remorse  which  is  no  more  foreign  to 
matter  than  to  thought,  and  in  a  word  all  the  differ- 
ences that  are  supposed  to  exist  here.  Could  the 
organism  then  suffice  for  everything?^  Once  more, 
yes ;  since  thought  visibly  develops  with  our  organs, 
why  should  not  the  matter  of  which  they  are  com- 
posed be  susceptible  of  remorse  also,  when  once  it 
has  acquired,  with  time,  the  faculty  of  feeling? 
(  The  soul  is  therefore  but  an  empty  word,  of 
which  no  one  has  any  idea,  and  which  an  enlightened 
.  man  should  use  only  to  signify  the  part  in  us 
that  thinks. ^^  Given  the  least  principle  of  motion, 
animated  bodi^  wHTTiave  all  that  is  necessary  for 
moymg^Ieeling,  thinking,  repenting,  or  in  ajword 
^or'conductingthemselves  in  the  physical  realm, 
and  in  the  moral  realm  which  depends  upon  it. 

Yet  we  take  nothing  for  granted ;  those  who  per- 
haps think  that  all  the  difficulties  have  not  yet  been 


.1'* 

/I 


V  I 


removed  shall  now  read  of  experiments  that  will 
completely  satisfy  them. 

1.  The  flesh  of  all  animals  palpitates  after  death. 
Jhis  palpitation  continues  longer,  the  more  cold 
blooded  the  animal  is  and  the  less  it  perspires.  Tor- 
toises, lizards,  serpents,  etc.  are  evidence  of  this. 

2.  Muscles  separated  from  the  body  contract  when 
they  are  stimulated. 

3.  The  intestines  keep  up  their  peristaltic  or  vermi- 
cular motion  for  a  long  time. 

4.  According  to  Cowper,®^  a  simple  injection  of 
hot  water  reanimates  the  heart  and  the  muscles. 

5.  A  frog's  heart  moves  for  an  hour  or  more 
after  it  has  been  removed  from  the  body,  especially 
when  exposed  to  the  sun  or  better  still  when  placed 
on  a  hot  table  or  chair.  If  this  movement  seems 
totally  lost,  one  has  only  to  stimulate  the  heart,  and 
that  hollow  muscle  beats  again.  Harvey^^made  this 
same  observation  on  toads. 

6.  Bacon  of  Verulam^^  in  his  treatise  "Sylva 
Sylvarum"  cites  the  case  of  a  man  convicted  of 
treason,  who  was  opened  alive,  and  whose  heart 
thrown  into  hot  water  leaped  several  times,  each 
time  less  high,  to  the  perpendicular  height  of  two 
feet. 

7.  Take  a  tiny  chicken  still  in  the  egg,  cut  out 
the  heart  and  you  will  observe  the  same  phenomena 
as  before,  under  almost  the  same  conditions.  The 
warmth  of  the  breath  alone  reanimates  an  animal 
about  to  perish  in  the  air  pump. 

The  same  experiments,  which  we  owe  to  Boyle®^ 
and  to  Stenon,^^  are  made  on  pigeons,  dogs,  and 
rabbits.    Pieces  of  their  hearts  beat  as  their  whole 


130 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


11 


hearts  would.     The  same  movements  can  be  seen 
in  paws  that  have  been  cut  off  from  moles. 

8.  The  caterpillar,  the  worm,  the  spider,  the  fly, 
the  eel  —  all  exhibit  the  same  phenomena;  and  in 
hot  water,  because  of  the  fire  it  contains,  the  move- 
ment of  the  detached  parts  increases. 

9.  A  drunken  soldier  cut  off  with  one  stroke  of 
his  sabre  an  Indian  rooster's  head.  The  animal  re- 
mained standing,  then  walked,  and  ran:  happening 
to  run  against  a  wall,  it  turned  around,  beat  its 
wings  still  running,  and  finally  fell  down.  As  it 
lay  on  the  ground,  all  the  muscles  of  this  rooster 
kept  on  moving.  That  is  what  I  saw  myself,  and 
almost  the  same  phenomena  can  easily  be  observed 
in  kittens  or  puppies  with  their  heads  cut  off. 

'  10.  Polyps  do  more  than  move  after  they  have 
been  cut  in  pieces.  In  a  week  they  regenerate  to  form 
as  many  animals  as  there  are  pieces.  I  am  sorry 
that  these  facts  speak  against  the  naturalists*  sys- 
tem of  generation;  or  rather  I  am  very  glad  of  it, 
for  let  this  discovery  teach  us  never  to  reach  a 
general  conclusion  even  on  the  ground  of  all  known 
(and  most  decisive)  experiments. 
rTHere  we  have  many  more  facts  than  are  needed  to 
prove,  in  an  incontestable  way,  that  each  tiny  fibre 
or  part  of  an  organized  body  moves  by  a  principle 
which  belongs  to  it^'  Its  activity,  unlike  voluntary 
motions,  does  not  3epend  in  any  way  on  the  nerves, 
since  the  movements  in  question  occur  in  parts  of 
the  body  which  have  no  connection  with  the  cir- 
culation. But  if  this  force  is  manifested  even  in 
sections  of  fibres  the  heart,  which  is  a  composite  of 
peculiarly  connected  fibres,  must  possess  the  same 
property.    1  did  not  need  Bacon's  story  to  persuade 


T" 


58-60] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


131 


Y^  jkiji^ 


me  of  this.  It  was  easy  for  me  to  come  to  this  con- 
clusion, both  from  the  perfect  analogy  of  the  struc- 
ture of  the  human  heart  with  that  of  animals,  and 
also  from  the  very  bulk  of  the  human  heart,  in  which 
this  movement  escapes  our  eyes  only  because  it  is 
smothered,  and  finally  because  in  corpses  all  the 
organs  are  cold  and  lifeless.  If  executed  criminals 
were  dissected  while  their  bodies  are  still  warm,  we 
should  probably  see  in  their  hearts  the  same  move- 
ments that  are  observed  in  the  face-muscles  of  those 
that  havebeenbeheaded. 

le  motive  principle  of  the  whole  body,  and  even 
of  its  parts  cut  in  pieces,  is  such  that  it  produces 
not  irregular  movements,  as  some  have  thought,  . 

but  very  regular  ones,  in  warm  blooded  and  perfeet^^^^^--^^ 
animals  as  well  as  in  cold  and  imperfect  ones^  No 
resource  therefore  remains  open  to  our  adversaries 
but  to  deny  thousands  and  thousands  of  facts  which 
eygryman  can  easily  verify.  " 

now  any  one  ask  me  where  is  this  innate  force 
in  our  bodies,  I  answer  that  it  very  clearly  resides 
in  what  the  ancients  called  the  parenchyma,  that  is 
to  say,  in  the  very  substance  of  the  organs  not  in- 
cluding the  veins,  the  arteries,  the  nerves,  in  a 
word,  that  it  resides  in  the  organi54tion  of  the 
whole  body,  and  that  consequently  each  organ  con- 
tains within  itself  forces  more  or  less  active  accord- 
ing to  the  need  of  them. 

Let  us  now  go  into  somg^tail  concerning  these 
springs  of  the  human^  machine.  \\\llthe  JsdtaXlani^ 
maL  natural,  and^utornati^  ^ntmng  ^re  jcarried  on 
by  their  action.  \^s  it  not  in  a  purely  mechanical 
way  that  the  body  shrinks  back  when  ixTis  struck 
with  terror  at  the  sight  of  an  unforeseen  precipice, 


*, 


J 


AA^V^KAyXcif^ 


<ltcAjvvv/^4<^ 


132 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


< 


60-63] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


133 


I 


\A^ 


that  the  eyelids  are  lowered  at  the  menace  of  a 
blow,  as  some  have  remarked,  and  that  the  pupil 
contracts  in  broad  daylight  to  save  the  retina,  and 
I  dilates  to  see  objects  in  darkness?  Is  it  not  by 
mechanical  means  that  the  pores  of  the  skin  close 
in  winter  so  that  the  cold  can  not  penetrate  to  the 
interior  of  the  blood  vessels,  and  that  the  stomach 
vomits  when  it  is  irritated  by  poison,  by  a  certain 
quantity  of  opium  and  by  all  emetics,  etc.  ?  that  the 
heart,  the  arteries  and  the  muscles  contract  in  sleep 
as  well  as  in  waking  hours,  that  the  lungs  serve  as 

bellows  continually  in  exercise, that  the  heart 

contracts  more  strongly  than  any  other  muscle  ?5S.. . . 
I  shall  not  go  into  any  more  detail  concerning  all 
these  little  subordinate  forces,  well  known  to  all. 
But  there  is  another  more  subtle  and  marvelous 
force,  which  animates  them  all;  it  is  the  source  of 
all  our  feelings,  of  all  our  pleasures,  of  all  our 
\  passions,  and  of  all  our  thoughts :  for  the  brain 
t  has  its  muscles  for  thinking,  as  the  legs  have  muscles 
for  walking/£I  I  wish  to  speak  of  this  impetuous 
principle  that  Hippocrates  calls  cvop/twi/V(soul).  This 
principle  exists  and  has  its  seat  in  the  brain  at  the 
origin  of  the  nerves,  by  which  it  exercises  its  con- 
trol over  all  the  rest  of  the  body.^  TBy  this  fact  is 
explained  all  that  can  be  explained,  even  to  the  sur- 
prising effects  of  maladies  of  the  imagination 

Look  at  the  portrait  of  the  famous  Pope  who  is, 
to  say  the  leajt,jhe  Voltaire  of  the  English."  The 
effort,  the  energy  of  his  geni^^^e  imprinted  upon 
his  countenance.  It  is  convulsed.  His  eyes  pro- 
trude from  their  sockets,  the  eyebrows  are  raised 
with  the  muscles  of  the  forehead.  Why?  Because 
the  brain  is  in  travail  and  all  the  body  must  share 


\ 


in  such  a  laborious  deliverance.  If  there  were  not 
an  internal  cord  which  pulled  the  external  ones, 
whence  would  come  all  these  phenomena?  To  admit 
a  soul  as  explanation  of  them,  is  to  be  reduced  to 
[explaining  phenomena  by]  the  operations  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

fact,  if  what  thinks  in  my  brain  is  not  a  part 
of  this  organ  and  therefore  of  the  whole  body,  why 
does  my  blood  boil,  and  the  fever  of  my  mind  pass 
into  my  veins,  when  lying  quietly  in  bed,  I  am  form- 
ing the  plan  of  some  work  or  carrying  on  an  ab- 
stract calculation?  Put  this  question  to  men  of  im- 
agination, to  great  poets,  to  men  who  are  enraptured 
by  the  felicitous  expression  of  sentiment,  and  trans- 
ported by  an  exquisite  fancy  or  by  the  charms  of 
nature,  of  truth,  or  of  virtue !    By  their  enthusiasm, 
by  what  they  will  tell  you  they  have  experienced, 
you  will  judge  the  cause  by  its  effects ;  by  that  har- 
mony which  Borelli^^la  mere  anatomist,  understood 
better  than  all  fEeLeibnizians,  you  will  comprehend 
the  material  unity  of  man.     In  short,  if  the  nerve- 
tension  which  causes  pain  occasions  also  the  fever 
by  which  the  distracted  mind  loses  its  will-power, 
and  if,  conversely,  the  mind  too  much  excited,  dis- 
turbs the  body  (and  kindles  that  inner  fire  which 
killed  Bayle  while  he  was  still  so  young)  ;  if  an 
agitation  rouses  my  desire  and  my  ardent  wish  for 
what,  a  moment  ago,  I  cared  nothing  about,  and  if 
in  their  turn  certain  brain  impressions  excite  the 
same  longing  and  the  same  desires,  then  why  should 
we  regard  as  double  what  is  manifestly  one  being?' 
In  vain  you  fall  back  on  the  power  of  the  will,  since 
for  one  order  that  the  will  gives,  it  bows  a  hundred 
times  to  the  yoke.52    And  what  wonder  that  in 


(./V-/" 


^-W-^. 


134 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


health  the  body  obevg.  since  a  torrent  of  blood 
■J  and  of  animal^-smrity^  forces  its  obedience,  and 
"since  the  will  has  as  ministers  an  invisible  legion  of 
fluids  swifter  than  lightning  and  ever  ready  to  do 
its  bidding!  But  as  the  power  of  the  will  is  exer- 
cised by  means  of  the  nerves,  it  is  likewise  limited 
by  them 

Does  the  result  of  jaundice  surprise  you?  Do 
you  not  know  that  the  color  of  bodies  depends  on 
the  color  of  the  glasses  through  which  we  look  at 
them,*^^  and  that  whatever  is  the  color  of  the  humors, 
such  is  the  color  of  objects,  at  least  for  us,  vain 
playthings  of  a  thousand  illusions?  But  remove 
this  color  from  the  aqueous  humor  of  the  eye,  let 
the  bile  flow  through  its  natural  filter,  then  the  soul 
having  new  eyes,  will  no  longer  see  yellow.  Again,  is 
it  not  thus,  by  removing  cataract,  or  by  injecting  the 
Eustachian  canal,  that  sight  is  restored  to  the  blind, 
or  hearing  to  the  deaf?  How  many  people,  who 
were  perhaps  only  clever  charlatans,  passed  for  mir- 
acle workers  in  the  dark  ages!  Beautiful  the  soul, 
and  powerful  the  will  which  can  not  act  save  by 
permission  of  the  bodily  conditions,  and  whose 
tastes  change  with  age  and  fever !  Should  we,  then, 
be  astonished  that  philosophers  have  always  had 
in  mind  the  health  of  the  body,  to  preserve  the 
health  of  the  soul,  that  Pythagoras'^^  g^y^  j-^j^g  £qj. 

the  diet  as  carefully  as  Plato  forbade  wine  ?'^^  The 
regime  suited  to  the  body  is  always  the  one  with 
which  sane  physicians  think  they  must  begin,  when 
it  is  a  question  of  forming  the  mind,  and  of  instruct- 
ing it  in  the  knowledge  of  truth  and  virtue ;  but  these 
are  vain  words  in  the  disorder  of  illness,  and  in  the 
tumult  of  the  senses.    Without  the  precepts  of  hy- 


gi[|2l2Qil3S 


63-65] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


135 


giene,  Epictetus,  Socrates,  Plato,  and  the  rest 
preach  in  vain:  all  ethics  is  fruitless  for  one  who 
lacks  his  share  of  temperance;  it  is  the  source  of 
all  virtues,  as  intemperance  is  the  source  of  all 
vices. 

Is  more  needed^  (for  whv  lose  myself  ip  dis- 
cussion of  the  passions  which  are  all  explained  by 
tnej:erm,  cvo/o/Aw^^_Hi2pocrates)  to  prove  that  man 
isbut  an  animal,  or  acollection  of  springswhich  wind 
eachotherup,  without  our  being  able  to  tell  at"what 
pointJn_this  human  circle,  nature  has  begun_?_J[f 
thesesprings  differ  among  themselves,  these  djger- 
ences  consist  only  in  their  position  and  in  theirdg- 
grees~or strength,  and  never  in  their  nature;  wliere- 
fore_the  sonl  is.,^ut  a  principle  of  motion  or  a 
material  and  sensible  part  of  the  brain,  which  can 
^~7egaHgd»....:without  fear  of  error,  as  the  main- 
spring of  the  whole  machine,  having  a  visible  in- 
fluenceon  all  the  parts:  The  soul  seems  even  to 
'have  been  made 


le  Drain,  so  that  all  the  other 
paits  of  the  system  are  but  a  kind  of  emanation 
from  the  brain.  This  will  appear  from  certain  ob- 
servations, made  on  different  embryos,  which  I  shall 
now  enumerate. 

JThis_^scillatiDn,  which  is  natural  or  suited  to  our 
achine,  and  with  which  each  fibre  and  even  each 
)rous  element,  so  to  speak,  seems  to  be  endowed, 
ce  that  of  a  pendulum,  can  not  keep  up  forever. 
It  must  be  renewed,  as  it  loses  strength,invigorated 
when  it  is  tired,  and  weakened  when  it  is  disturbed 
by  excess  of  strength  and  vigor.    In  this  alone,  true 
V.  medicine  consists. 

The  body  isbut  a  watch,  whose  watchmaker  is 
thc^^JML  chvleT^ature  s  iirst  care,  when  the  chyJiT 


uMr 


^ 


tr- 


A^-^tetv^ 


■*nfc 


••*"-*^ 


,./ 


I  »,.  UJ  ■■  '      II 


^-^ 


) 


\ 


136 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


65-67] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


137 


■V 


enters  the  blood,  is  to  excite  in  it  a  kind  of  fever^* 
'  which  the  chemists,  who  dream  only  of  retorts,  must 
have  taken  for  fermentation.  This  fever  produces 
a  greater  filtration  of  spirits,  which  mechanically 
animate  the  muscles  and  the  heart,  as  if  they  had 
been  sent  there  by  order  of  the  will. 

These  then  are  the  causes  or  the  forces  of  life 
which  thus  sustain  for  a  hundred  years  that  per- 
petual movement  of  the  solids  and  the  liquids  which 
is  as  necessary  to  the  first  as  to  the  second.  But 
who  can  say  whether  the  solids  contribute  more  than 
the  fluids  to  this  movement  or  vice  versa?  All  that 
we  know  is  that  the  action  of  the  former  would 
soon  cease  without  the  help  of  the  latter,  that  is, 
without  the  help  of  the  fluids  which  by  their  onset 
rouse  and  maintain  the  elasticity  of  the  blood  ves- 
sels on  which  their  own  circulation  depends.  From 
this  it  follows  that  after  death  the  natural  resilience 
of  each  substance  is  still  more  or  less  strong  ac- 
cording to  the  remnants  of  life  which  it  outlives, 
being  the  last  to  perish.  So  true  is  it  that  this 
force  of  the  animal  parts  can  be  preserved  and 
strengthened  by  that  of  the  circulation,  but  that  it 
does  not  depend  on  the  strength  of  the  circulation, 
since,  as  we  have  seen,  it  can  dispense  with  even  the 
integrity  of  each  member  or  organ. 

I  am  aware  that  this  opinion  has  not  been  rel- 
ished by  all  scholars,  and  that  Stahl  especially  had 
much  scorn  for  it.  This  great  chemist  has  wished 
to  persuade  us  that  the  soul  is  the  sole  cause  of  all 
our  movements.  But  this  is  to  speak  as  a  fanatic 
and  not  as  a  philosopher. 

To  destroy  the  hypothesis  of  Stahl,7«  we  need 
not  make  as  great  an  effort  as  I  fina^ffiat  others  have 


done  before  me.  We  need  only  glance  at  a  violinist. 
What  flexibility,  what  lightness  in  his  fingers!  The 
movements  are  so  quick,  that  it  seems  almost  as  if 
there  were  no  succession.  But  I  pray,  or  rather  I 
challenge,  the  followers  of  Stahl  who  understand 
so  perfectly  all  that  our  soul  can  do,  to  tell  me  how 
it  could  possibly  execute  so  many  motions  so  quickly, 
motions,  moreover,  which  take  place  so  far  from 
the  soul,  and  in  so  many  different  places.  That  is 
to  suppose  that  a  flute  player  could  play  brilliant  ca- 
dences on  an  infinite  number  of  holes  that  he  could 
not  know,  and  on  which  he  could  not  even  put  his 
finger ! 

But  let  us  say  with  M.  Hecquet'^^  that  all  men 
may  not  go  to  Corinth.'^'^  Why  should  not  Stahl 
have  been  even  more  favored  by  nature  as  a  man 
than  as  a  chemist  and  a  practitioner  ?  Happy  mortal, 
he  must  have  received  a  soul  different  from  that 
of  the  rest  of  mankind, — a  sovereign  soul,  which, 
not  content  with  having  some  control  over  the  vol- 
untary muscles,  easily  held  the  reins  of  all  the  move- 
ments of  the  body,  and  could  suspend  them,  calm 
them,  or  excite  them,  at  its  pleasure!  With  so 
despotic  a  mistress,  in  whose  hands  were,  in  a  sense, 
the  beating  of  the  heart,  and  the  laws  of  circulation, 
there  could  certainly  be  no  fever,  no  pain,  no  weari- 
ness,   !     Thesoul  wills,  and  the  springs  play.- 

contract  or  relax.     But  how  did   \he  spnnpr.s^of 
Stahl's  machine  get  out  of  order  so  soon  ?    He  who 
las  in  himself  soTgreat  a  doctor,  should  be  inTT 
mortal      ^  " 

Moreover,  Stahl  is  not  the  only  one  who  has  re- 
jected the  principle  of  the  vibration  of  organic 
bodies.    Greater  minds  have  not  used  the  principle 


/ ' 


I 


138 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


when  they  wished  to  explain  the  action  of  the  heart, 

etc.     One  need  only  read  the  "Institutions  of 

Medicine"  by  Boerhaave^^  to  see  what  laborious  and 
enticing  systems  this  great  man  was  obliged  to  in- 
vent, by  the  labor  of  his  mighty  genius,  through 
failure  to  admit  that  there  is  so  wonderful  a  force  in 
all  bodies. 

Willis^^  and  Perrault,®^  minds  of  a  more  feeble 
stamp,  but  carefmBBSefvers  of  nature  (whereas 
nature  was  known  to  the  famous  Ley  den  professor 
only  through  others  and  second  hand,  so  to  speak) 
seem  to  have  preferred  to  suppose  a  soul  generally 
extended  over  the  whole  body,  instead  of  the  prin- 
ciple which  we  are  describing.  But  according  to  this 
hypothesis  (which  was  the  hypothesis  of  Vergil 
and  of  all  Epicureans,  an  hypothesis  which  the 
history  of  the  polyp  might  seem  at  first  sight  to 
favor)  the  movements  which  go  on  after  the  death 
of  the  subject  in  which  they  inhere  are  due  to  a 
remnant  of  soul  still  maintained  by  the  parts  that 
contract,  though,  from  the  moment  of  death,  these 
are  not  excited  by  the  blood  and  the  spirits.  Whence 
it  may  be  seen  that  these  writers,  whose  solid  works 
easily  eclipse  all  philosophic  fables,  are  deceived  only 
in  the  manner  of  those  who  have  endowed  matter 
with  the  faculty  of  thinking,  I  mean  to  say,  by  hav- 
ing expressed  themselves  badly  in  obscure  and  mean- 
ingless terms.  In  truth,  what  is  this  remnant  of  a 
soul,  if  it  is  not  the  "moving  force"  of  the  Leib- 
nizians  (badly  rendered  by  such  an  exp^ression), 
which  however  Perrault  in  particular  has  really 
foreseen.  See  his  "Treatise  on  the  Mechanism  of 
Animals."  ""  '  " 

fow  that  it  is  clearly  proved  against  the  Carte- 


67-69] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


139 


sians,  the  followers  of  Stahl,  the  Malebranchists, 
and  the  theologians  who  little  deserve  to  be  men- 
tioned here,  that  matter  is  self-moved,^!  not  only 
when  qrganized,  as  in  a  wholeTieart,  tOr  example, 
but  even  when  this  organization  has  been  destroyed, 
human  curiosity  would  like  to  discover  how  a  body, 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  originally  endowed  with  the 
breath  of  life,  finds  itself  adorned  in  consequence 
with  the  faculty  of  feeling,  and  thus  with  that  of 
thought.  And,  heavens,  what  efforts  have  not  been 
made  by  certain  philosophers  to  manage  to  prove 
this !  and  what  nonsense  on  this  subject  I  have  had 
the  patience  to  read ! 

\ »  All  tliat  experience  teaches  us  is  that  while  move- 
ment persists,  however  slight  it  may  be,  in  one  or 
more  fibres,  we  need  only  stimulate  them  to  re- 
excite  and  animate  this  movement  almost  extin- 
guished)^ This  has  been  shown  in  the  host  of  ex- 
periments with  which  I  have  undertaken  to  crush 
the  systems.  It  is  therefore  certain  that  motion 
and  feeling  excite  each  other  in  turn,  both  in  a 
whole  body  and  in  the  same  body  when  its  struc- 
ture is  destroyed,  to  say  nothing  of  certain  plants 
which  seem  to  exhibit  the  same  phenomena  of  the 
union  of  feeling  and  motion?" 

But  furthermore,  how  many  excellent  philos- 
ophers have  shown  that  thought  is  but  a  faculty 
of  feeling,  and  that  the  reasonable  soul  is  but  the 
feeling  soul  engaged  in  contemplating  its  ideas  and 
in  reasoning!  This  would  be  proved  by  the  fact 
alone  that  when  feeling  is  stifled,  thought  also  is 
checked,  for  instance  in  apoplexy,  in  lethargy,  in 
catalepsis,  etc.  For  it  is  ridiculous  to  suggest  that, 
during  these  stupors,  the  soul  keeps  on  thinking, 


I* 


"^T^-r^^ 


.^^ 


/ 


(xj^s-'^*^    A^ 


IS 


^ 


..A* 


'^ 


^^ 


-|H 


[AOK^ 


V^ 


v>- 


T" 


140 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


even  though  it  does  not  remember  the  ideas  that  it 
has  had. 

{  1^  to  the  development  of  feehng  and  motion, 
it  is  absurd  to  waste  time  seeking  for  its  mechan- 
ism. The  nature  of  motion  is  as  unknown  to  us 
as  that  of  matter.®^     How  can  we  discover  how 

'  it  is  produced  unless,  like  the  author  of  "Thejiis.- 
tory^of  the  Soul,"  we  resuscitate  the  old  and  un- 

^ intelligible  doctrine  of  substantial  forms?  X_am 
then  quite  as  content  not  to  know  how  inert  and 
simple  matter  becomes  active  and  highly  organized, 
as  not  to  be  able  to  look  at  the  sun  without  red 
glasses ;  and  I  am  as  little  disquieted  concerning 
the  other  incomprehensible  wonders  of  nature,  the 
production  of  feeling  and  of  thought  in  a  being 
which  earlier  appeared  to  our  limited  eyes  as  a 
mere  clod  of  clay. 

Grant  only  that  organized  matter  is  endowed  with 
a  principle  of  motion,  which  alone  differentiates  it 
from  the  inorganic  (and  can  one  deny  this  in  the 
face  oTthemost  incontestable  observation?)  and 
that  among  animals,  as  I  have  sufficiently  proved, 
everything  depends  upon  the  diversity  of  this_orr 
ganization:  these  admissions  suffice  for  guessing 
the  riddle  of  substances  and  of  man.  It  [thus] 
appears  that  there  is  but  one  [type  of  organization] 
theuniverse,  and  that  man  is  the  mojt  perfect 

[e^aSS[ejr~^  ^^^^  *^^  ap€>  and  to  the  most  intelli- 
gent  animats.  asjhe  planetary  pendulum  of  Huy- 
ghens^^  is  to  ^^"watcITo f  Julien  Leray-^^L-3Ipre 
instruments,  more  wheels  "^TfTrnnre  sprinpr<;  jvp^^ 
necessarv  to  mark  the  movements  of  the 


jhairtomark  or  strike  the  hours ;jin(l  VaucansQa^^^ 
who  neiaed  more  skill  for  making  his  flute  player 


1 


69-71] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


141 


than  for  making  his  duck,  would  have  needed  still  (^^^'^^^^^2>v. 

more  to  make  a  talking  man,  a  mechanism  no  longer 

to  be  regarded  as  impossiblc^esgecially  in  the  hands 

of  another  Prometheus.  flTlitr fashion,  it  was 

necessary  that  nature  should  use  more  elaborate 

art  in  making  and  sustainiag.^j2iachine  which  for 

a  whole  century  could  mark  all  motions  of  the 

heart  and  of  the  mind;  for  though  one  does  not 

tell  time  by  the  pulse,  it  is  at  least  the  barometer 

of  the  warmth  and  the  vivacity  by  which  one  may 

estimate  the  nature  of  the  soul.     I  am  right !    The 

jjllfflan^bodyJs_a^atch,  a  large  watch  constructed 

KitlLSuch  skill  andjngenuity,   that  it   the  wheel 

_  seconds^ppens  tostop,  the  rninute 

idlgeUurns  jiid^keeps  on  going  its  round,  and  in 
the_saniejvay:j[g^  and  aTl"The 

Qtherrgo"gn^juanii^  the  iiigM>vlieejshave \ 

ojider.     Is  it  not  for  a  similar  reason"  that    the  j 
stoppage  of  a  few  blood  vessels  is  not  enough  to  i 
destroy  or  suspend  the  strength  of  the  movement  1 
which  is  in  the  heart  as  in  the  mainspring  of  the 
£iachine;  since,  on  the  contrary,  the  fluids  whose 
volume  is  diminished,    having  a  shorter  road  to 
travel,  cover  the  ground  more  quickly,  borne  on  as 
by  a  fresh  current  which  the  energy  of  the  heart 
increases  in  proportion  to  the  resistance  it  encoun- 
ters at  the  ends  of  the  blood-vessels  ?  And  is  not  this 
the  reason  why  the  loss  of  sight  (caused  by  the  com- 
pression of  the  optic  nerve  and  by  its  ceasing  to  con- 
vey the  images  of  objects)  no  more  hinders  hearing, 
than  the  loss  of  hearing  (caused  by  obstruction  of 
the  functions  of  the  auditory  nerve)  implies  the  loss 
of  sight  ?  In  the  same  way,  finally,  does  not  one  man 


) 


\ 


11 


V' 


I 


142 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


\juJ^ 


hear  (except  immediately  after  his  attack)  with- 
out being  able  to  say  that  he  hears,  while  another 
who  hears  nothing,  but  whose  lingual  nerves  are  un- 
injured in  the  brain,  mechanically  tells  of  all  the 
dreams  which  pass  through  his  mind?  These  phe- 
nomena do  not  surprise  enlightened  physicians  at 
all.  They  know  what  to  think  about  man's  nature, 
and  (more  accurately  to  express  myself  in  passing) 
of  two  physicians,  the  better  one  and  the  one  who 
deserves  more  confidence  is  always,  in  my  opinion, 
the  one  who  is  more  versed  in  the  physique  or  mech- 
anism of  the  human  body,  and  who,  leaving  aside 
the  soul  and  all  the  anxieties  which  this  chimera 
gives  to  fools  and  to  ignorant  men,  is  seriously  oc- 
cupied only  in  pure  naturalism. 

Therefore  let  the  pretended  M.  Charp  deride  phi- 
losophers  who  have  regarded  animals  as  machines. 
Tlow  different  is  my  view  !\\I  believe  that  Descartes 
would  be  a  man  in  every  way  worthy  of  respect,  if, 
bom  in  a  century  that  he  had  not  been  obliged  to 
enlighten,  he  had  known  the  value  of  experiment 
and  observation,  and  the  danger  of  cutting  loose 
from  them.>&  But  it  is  none  the  less  just  for  me 
to  make  an  authentic  reparation  to  this  great  man 
for  all  the  insignificant  philosophers — poor  jesters, 
and  poor  imitators  of  Locke — who  instead  of  laugh- 
ing impudently  at  Descartes,  might  better  realize 
that  without  him  the  field^of  philosophy,  like  the 
field  of  science  without  Newton,  might  perhaps  be 
still  uncultivated. 

This  celebrated  philosopher,  it  is  true,  was  much 
deceived,  and  no  one  denies  that.  But  at  any  rate 
he  understood  animal  nature,  he  was  the  first  to 
prove  completely  that  animals  are  pure  machines^ 


71-73] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


143 


/ 


' 


And  after  a  discovery  of  this  importance  demand- 
ing so  much  sagacity,  how  can  we  without  ingrati- 
tude fail  to  pardon  all  his  errors ! 

In  my  eyes,  they  are  all  atoned  for  by  that  great 
confession.  For  after  all,  although  he  extols  the 
distinctness  of  the  two  substances,  this  is  plainly  but 
a  trick  of  skill,  a  ruse  of  style,  to  make  theologians 
swallow  a  poison,  hidden  in  the  shade  of  an  analogy 
which  strikes  everybody  else  and  which  they  alone 
fail  to  notice.  (F^QLiLis^this,  thisstrong  analogy, 
which  forces  all  scholars  and  wise7u3gesT^n!g^nfess 
^thatjtnese  proug  and  vain  beings,  fflote  distinguishes^ 
by^their  prTae^gan^b^THTname"^ .  ^„^,^. 

bottom  only  animals  and  machineTwhich,  though 
upright,  go  on  all  fqursTlTlTey'all  have  this  maf^ 
yelous  instinct,  which  is  developed  by  education 
into  mind,  and  which  always  has  its  seat  in  the 
brain,  (or  for  want  of  that  when  it  is  lacking  or 
hardened,  in  the  medulla  oblongata)  and  never  in 
the  cerebellum;  for  I  have  often  seen  the  cere- 
bellum injured,  and  other  observers*  have  found 
it  hardened,  when  the  soul  has  not  ceased  to  fulfil 
its  functions. 

TVbe  amachine,  to  feel  to  think,  to  know  how 
jodistinguish  good  from  badfas  well  as  bluTTrSm 
yeflowTlna'wora;  'fo"5e  bom  "with  an  intelligence 
and  a  sure  moral  instinct,  and  to  be  but  an  ani- 
mal, are  therefore  characters  which  are  no  more 
contradictory,  than  to  be  an  ape  or  a  parrot  and 
to  be  able  to  give  oneself  pleasure.....!  believe 
that  thought  is^.,saJittIeJncon^^  with  organized 
"tatter,  thaLJlseems^  bronToTltg" properties  on 
*  Haller  in  the  Transact.  PhilosopK 


^\ 


/ 


-SfT^ 


V' 

1 j)-- 


J  :  ^^' 


A^ 


/(/>^ 


% 


u 


^ 


\ 


'0> 


I      ^-        ^ 


144 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


a  par  with  electricity,  the  faculty  of  motion,  im- 
penetrabiHty,  extension,  etc. 

Do  you  ask  for  further  observations  ?  Here  are 
some  which  are  incontestable  and  which  all  prove 
that  man  resembles  animals  perfectly,  in  his  origin 
as  well  as  in  all  the  points  in  which  we  have  thought 
it  essential  to  make  the  comparison 

Let  us  observe  man  both  in  and  out  of  his  shell, 
let  us  examine  young  embryos  of  four,  six,  eight  or 
fifteen  days  with  a  microscope ;  after  that  time  our 
eyes  are  sufficient.  What  do  we  see?  The  head 
alone;  a  little  round  tg%  with  two  black  points 
which  mark  the  eyes.  Before  that,  everything  is 
formless,  and  one  sees  only  a  medullary  pulp,  which 
is  the  brain,  in  which  are  formed  first  the  roots  of 
the  nerves,  that  is,  the  principle  of  feeling,  and  the 
heart,  which  already  within  this  substance  has  the 
power  of  beating  of  itself;  it  is  the  punctum  saliens 
of  Malpighi,  which  perhaps  already  owes  a  part  of 
its  excitability  to  the  influence  of  the  nerves.  Then 
little  by  little,  one  sees  the  head  lengthen  from  the 
neck,  which,  in  dilating,  forms  first  the  thorax  in- 
side which  the  heart  has  already  sunk,  there  to  be- 
come stationary;  below  that  is  the  abdomen  which 
is  divided  by  a  partition  (the  diaphragm).  One  of 
these  enlargements  of  the  body  forms  the  arms, 
the  hands,  the  fingers,  the  nails,  and  the  hair;  the 
other  forms  the  thighs,  the  legs,  the  feet,  etc.,  which 
differ  only  in  their  observed  situation,  and  which 
constitute  the  support  and  the  balancing  pole  of 
the  body.  The  whole  process  is  a  strange  sort  of 
growth,  like  that  of  plants.  On  the  tops  of  our 
heads  is  hair  in  place  of  which  the  plants  have 
leaves  and  flowers;  everywhere  is  shown  the  same 


1 


73-77] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


145 


? 


atchinakerj   

Her  power  shines  forth  equally  in  creating  thelow- 
liest  insect  and  in  creating  the  most  highly  developed 
man ;  the  animal  kingdom  costs  her  no  more  than  the 
vegetable,  and  the  most  splendid  genius  no  more 
than  a  blade  of  wheat.  Let  us  then  judge  by  what  we 


luxury  of  nature,  and  finally  the  directing  principle 
of  plants  is  placed  where  we  have  our  soul,  that 
other  quintessence  of  man. 

Such  is  the  uniformity  of  nature,  which  we  are    UA^yj^^A^^ 
beginning  to  realize:  and  the  analog  of  the  animaT         '  ^ 

with  the  vegetable  kingdom,  of  man  with  plant.  Per- 
haps there  even  are  animal  plants,  which  in  vege- 
tating, either  fight  as  polyps  do,  or  perform  other 

functions  characteristic  of  animals 

We  are  veritable  moles  in  the  field  of  nature ;  we 
achieve  little  more  than  the  mole's  journey  and  it 
is  our  pride  which  prescribes  limits  to  the  limitless. 
We^re  in  the_pQsition  of  a  watch  that  should  say 
(a  writer  of  fables  would  make  the  watch  a  hero  in 
a  silly  tale) :  "I  was  never  made  by  that  fool  of  a 
workman,  I  who  divide  time,  who  mark  so  exactly 
the  course  of  the  sun,  who  repeat  aloud  the  hours 
which  I  mark!  No!  that  is  impossible!"  In  the 
same  way,  we  disdain,  ungrateful  wretches  that  we 
are,  this  common  mother  of  all  kingdoms,  as  the 
chemists  say.  We  imagine,  or  rather  we  infer,  a  cause 
superior  to  that  to  which  we  owe  all,  and  which 
truly  has  wrought  all  things  in  an  inconceivable 
fashion.  No^jnatter  contains  nothing  base,  except 
I  to  the  vulgar  eyes  which  do  not  recognize  her  in  her 
'  mgst-Sfdendjd^works ;  and  nature  is  no  stupid  work- 
man, ^he  creates .  millionsof  men,  with  a  facility 
31ld_aj2leasTLirr]^reJ^^  a 


u.^' 


/" 


n 


I  4 


XVt-^' 


^^^"^^ 


0 


146 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


see  of  that  which  is  hidden  from  the  curiosity 
of  our  eyes  and  of  our  investigations,  and  let  us 
not  imagine  anything  beyond.  Let  us  observe  the 
ape,  the  beaver,  the  elephant,  etc.,  in  their  opera- 
tions. If  it  is  clear  that  these  activities  can  not 
be  performed  without  intelligence,  why  refuse  in- 
telligence to  these  animals?  And  if  you  grant  them 
a  soul,  you  are  lost,  you  fanatics !  You  will  in  vain 
say  that  you  assert  nothing  about  the  nature  of  the 
animal  soul  and  that  you  deny  its  immortality.  Who 
does  not  see  that  this  is  a  gratuitous  assertion ;  who 
does  not  see  that  the  soul  of  an  animal  must  be 
either  mortal  or  immortal,  whichever  ours  [is],  and 
that  it  must  therefore  undergo  the  same  fate  as 
ours,  whatever  that  may  be,  and  that  thus  [in  ad- 
mitting that  animals  have  souls],  you  fall  into  Scylla 
in  the  effort  to  avoid  Charybdis  ? 

Break  the  chain  of  your  prejudices,  arm  your- 
selves with  the  torch  of  experience,  and  you  will 
render  to  nature  the  honor  she  deserves,  instead  of 
inferring  anything  to  her  disadvantage,  from  the 
ignorance  in  which  she  has  left  you.  Only  open 
wide  your  eyes,  only  disreg^ard  what  you  CM^not 
understand,  and  you  will  see  that  the  ploughman 
wTToselnfelligence  and  ideas  extend  no  further  than 
the  bounds  of  his  furrow,  does  not  differ  essentially 
from  the  greatest  genius, — a  truth  which  the  dis- 
section of  Descartes's  and  of  Newton's  brains  would 
have  proved;  you  will  be  persuaded  that  the  imbe- 
cile and  the  fool  are  animals  with  human  faces,  as 
the  intelligent  ape  is  a  little  man  in  another  shape; 
in  short,  you  will  learn  tharsince  everything^depends, 
absolutely  on3itference  of^rganization,*ra  well  con- 
structed^nimal  which  has  studied  astronomy,  can 


!     / 


77-79] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


147 


predict  an  eclipse,  as  it  can  predict  recovery  or  death 
when  it  has  used  its  genius  and  its  clearness  of 
vision,  for  a  time,  in  the  school  of  Hippocrates  and 
at  the  bedside  of  the  sick.  By  this  line  of  observa- 
tions and  truths,  we  come  to  connect  the  admirable 
power  of  thought  with  matter,  without  being  able 
to  see  the  links,  because  the  subject  of  this  attribute 
is  essentially  unknown  to  us.  

Let  us  not  say  that  every  machine  or  every  animal 
perishes  altogether  or  assumes  another  form  after  ' 
death,  for  we  know  absolutely  nothing  about  the 
subject.  On  the  other  h\  ^d,  to  assert  that  an  im- 
mortal machine  is  a  chimera  or  a  logical  fiction,  is  cXvv^-/-^^^  ^  1 
to  reason  as  absurdly  as  caterpillars  would  reason 
if,  seeing  the  cast-off  skins  of  their  fellow-cater- 
pillars, they  should  bitterly  deplore  the  fate  of  their 
species,  which  to  them  would  seem  to  come  to  noth- 

ingj^xThe  soul  of  these  insects  (for  each  animal 

has  his  own)  is  too  limited  to  comprehend  the  meta- 
morphoses of  nature.  Never  one  of  the  most  skil- 
ful among  them  could  have  imagined  that  it  was 
destined  to  become  a  butterfly.  It  is  the  same  with 
us.  What  more  do  we  know  of  our  destiny  than  of 
our  origin  ?  Let  us  then  submit  to  an  invincible  ig- 
norance on  which  our  happiness  depends. 

He  who  so  thinks  will  be  wise,  just,  tranquil 
about  his  fate,  and  therefore  happy.  He  will  await 
death  without  either  fear  or  desire,  and  will  cherish 
life  (hardly  understanding  how  disgust  can  corrupt 
a  heart  in  this  place  of  many  delights)  ;  he  will  be 

t filled  with  reverence,  gratitude,  affection,  and  ten- 
derness for  nature,  in  proportion  to  his  feeling  of 
the  benefits  he  has  received  from  nature;  he  will 
be  happy,  in  short,  in  feeling  nature,  and  in  being 


'/fAX^'-^ 


{TX^} 


146 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


see  of  that  which  is  hidden  from  the  curiosity 
of  our  eyes  and  of  our  investigations,  and  let  us 
not  imagine  anything  beyond.  Let  us  observe  the 
ape,  the  beaver,  the  elephant,  etc.,  in  their  opera- 
tions. If  it  is  clear  that  these  activities  can  not 
be  performed  without  intelligence,  why  refuse  in- 
telligence to  these  animals?  And  if  you  grant  them 
a  soul,  you  are  lost,  you  fanatics !  You  will  in  vain 
say  that  you  assert  nothing  about  the  nature  of  the 
animal  soul  and  that  you  deny  its  immortality.  Who 
does  not  see  that  this  is  a  gratuitous  assertion ;  who 
does  not  see  that  the  soul  of  an  animal  must  be 
either  mortal  or  immortal,  whichever  ours  [is],  and 
that  it  must  therefore  undergo  the  same  fate  as 
ours,  whatever  that  may  be,  and  that  thus  [in  ad- 
mitting that  animals  have  souls],  you  fall  into  Scylla 
in  the  effort  to  avoid  Charybdis  ? 
^^  Break  the  chain  of  your  prejudices,  arm  your- 
selves with  the  torch  of  experience,  and  you  will 
render  to  nature  the  honor  she  deserves,  instead  of 
inferring  anything  to  her  disadvantage,  from  the 
ignorance  in  which  she  has  left  you.  Only  open 
wide  your  eyes,  only  disregard  what  you  ^arrTiot 
understand,  and  you  will  see  that  the  ploughman 
wTiose  intelligence  and  ideas  extend  no  further  than 
the  bounds  of  his  furrow,  does  not  differ  essentially 
from  the  greatest  genius, — a  truth  which  the  dis- 
section of  Descartes's  and  of  Newton's  brains  would 
have  proved;  you  will  be  persuaded  that  the  imbe- 
cile and  the  fool  are  animals  with  human  faces,  as 
the  intelligent  ape  is  a  little  man  in  another  shape; 
in  short,  you  will  learn  thar^since  everything^depeads_ 
absolutely  ondifference  ororganization,'Tawell  con- 
structed^himal  which  has  studledTstronomy,  can 


*v"  — 


' 


77-79] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


147 


predict  an  eclipse,  as  it  can  predict  recovery  or  death 
when  it  has  used  its  genius  and  its  clearness  of 
vision,  for  a  time,  in  the  school  of  Hippocrates  and 
at  the  bedside  of  the  sick.  By  this  line  of  observa- 
tions and  truths,  we  come  to  connect  the  admirable 
power  of  thought  with  matter,  without  being  able 
to  see  the  links,  because  the  subject  of  this  attribute 
is  essentially  unknown  to  us 


II   " 


.et  us  not  say  that  every  machine  or  every  animal 
perishes  altogether  or  assumes  another  form  after 
death,  for  we  know  absolutely  nothing  about  the 
subject.  On  the  other  hand,  to  assert  that  an  im- 
mortal machine  is  a  chimera  or  a  logical  fiction,  is 
to  reason  as  absurdly  as  caterpillars  would  reason 
if,  seeing  the  cast-off  skins  of  their  fellow-cater- 
pillars, they  should  bitterly  deplore  the  fate  of  their 
species,  which  to  them  would  seem  to  come  to  noth- 
ingj^^/The  soul  of  these  insects  (for  each  animal 
has  his  own)  is  too  limited  to  comprehend  the  meta- 
morphoses of  nature.  Never  one  of  the  most  skil- 
ful among  them  could  have  imagined  that  it  was 
destined  to  become  a  butterfly.  It  is  the  same  with 
us.  What  more  do  we  know  of  our  destiny  than  of 
our  origin  ?  Let  us  then  submit  to  an  invincible  ig- 
norance on  which  our  happiness  depends. 

He  who  so  thinks  will  be  wise,  just,  tranquil 
about  his  fate,  and  therefore  happy.  He  will  await 
death  without  either  fear  or  desire,  and  will  cherish 
life  (hardly  understanding  how  disgust  can  corrupt 
a  heart  in  this  place  of  many  delights) ;  he  will  be 

t filled  with  reverence,  gratitude,  affection,  and  ten- 
derness for  nature,  in  proportion  to  his  feeling  of 
the  benefits  he  has  received  from  nature;  he  will 
be  happy,  in  short,  in  feeling  nature,  and  in  being 


~±i 


crvvv^-w^'—^r^ 


•) 


f 


148 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


[Text 


A-J»— ' 


present  at  the  enchanting  spectacle  of  the  universe, 
I  and  he  will  surely  never  destroy  nature  either  in 

^  himself  or  in  others.     More  than  that!     Full  of 

I  humanity,  this  man  will  love  htrnian  character  even 

I         .  ,  in  his  enemies.     Judge  how  he  will  treat  others. 

I       jtX^  '^^  r^         He  jwilL4nty_the  wickedjvithoiit  iiating -Ihem; jn 

Eg^"eyes^_th€y^  wjlLbe  but  mis-mad^jnerL_  But  in 
pardoning  the  faults  of  the  structure  of  mind  and 
body,  he  will  none  the  less  admlre~th'e  Beauties  and 
the  virtues  of  both.  Those  whom  nature  shall  have 
favored  will  seem  to  him  to  deserve  more  respect 
than  those  whom  she  has  treated  in  stepmotherly 
fashion.  Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  natural  gifts,  the 
source  of  all  acquirements,  gain  from  the  lips  and 
heart  of  the  materialist,  the  homage  which  every 
other  thinker  unjustly  refuses  them.  In  short,  the 
materialist,  convinced,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of 
his  vanity,  that  he  is  but  a  machine  or  an  animal, 
will  not  maltreat  his  kind,  for  he  will  know  too  well 
the  nature  of  those  actions,  whose  humanity  is  al- 
ways in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  the  analogy 
proved  above  [between  human  beings  and  animals] ; 
and  following  the  natural  law  given  to  all  animals, 
he  will  not  wish  to  do  to  others  what  he  would  not 
wish  them  to  do  to  him. 

L^tus^hen^^ 
anJTHaflffT^^^^ 

substance  differently  modified.  This  is  no  hypoth- 
eStrsetTofthlBy^dint  of  a  number  of  postulates  and 
assumptions;  it  is  not  the  work  of  prejudice,  nor 
even  of  my  reason  alone;  I  should  have  disdained 
a  guide  which  I  think  to  be  so  untrustworthy,  had 
not  my  senses,  bearing  a  torch,  so  to  speak,  induced 
me  to  follow  reason  by  lighting  the  way  themselves. 


79-81] 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


149 


f. 


^^.^ Experience  has  thus  spoken  to  me  in  behalf  of  rea^^ 
son;  and  in  this  way  I  have  combined  the  two.*' 

But  it  must  have  been  noticed  that  I  have  not' 
allowed  myself  even  the  most  vigorous  and  imme- 
diately deduced  reasoning,  except  as  a  result  of  a 
multitude  of  observations  which  no  scholar  will  con- 
test ;  and  furthermore,  I  recognize  only  scholars  as 
judges  of  the  conclusions  which  I  draw  from  the 
observations;  and  I  hereby  challenge_eyery jreju- 
diced  man  who^is  iieilliei  "anatornistTrior  acquainted 

^^^^^^^I^^  can  here  be^n- 

sHereclTltinrot  the  liumanjK^dy.  Against  so  strong 
and  sohd  an  oakTwhat  could  the  weak  reeds  of  the- 
ology, of  metaphysics,  and  of  the  schools,  avail, — 
childish  amis,  like  our  parlor  foils,  that  may  well 
afford  the  pleasure  of  fencing,  but  can  never  wound 
an  adversary.  Need  I  say  that  I  refer  to  the 
empty  and  trivial  notions,  to  the  pitiable  and  trite 
arguments  that  will  be  urged  (as  long  as  the  shadow 
of  prejudice  or  of  superstition  remains  on  earth) 
for  the  supposed  incompatibility  of  two  substances 
which  meet  and  move  each  other  unceasingly?  Such 

I  is  my  syjtem^r  rather  the  truth,  ^nless  I  am  much 
deceived     IFTs  short  and  simpler^lJispute  It  now^ 
-  wIio~will. 


7 


Ill 


H 


w 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  SOUL.- 


BY  JEAN  OFFRAY  DE  LA  METTRIE. 


EXTRACTS. 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  SOUL. 


CHAPTER  II.  CONCERNING  MATTER. 

ALL  philosophers  who  have  examined  attentively 
-^^  the  nature  of  matter,  considered  in  itself,  in- 
dependently of  all  the  forms  which  constitute  bodies, 
have  discovered  in  this  substance,  diverse  proper- 
ties proceeding  from  an  absolutely  unknown  es- 
sence. Such  are,  (1)  the  capacity  of  taking  on 
different  forms,  which  are  produced  in  matter  it- 
self, by  which  matter  can  acquire  moving  force  and 
the  faculty  of  feeling;  (2)  actual  extension,  which 
these  philosophers  have  rightly  recognized  as  an 
attribute,  but  not  as  the  essence,  of  matter. 

However,  there  have  been  some,  among  others 
Descartes,  who  have  insisted  on  reducing  the  es- 
sence of  matter  to  simple  extension,  and  on  limiting 
all  the  properties  of  matter  to  those  of  extension; 
but  this  opinion  has  been  rejected  by  all  other  mod- 
ern philosophers, ....  so  that  the  power  of  acquiring 
moving  force,  and  the  faculty  of  feeling  as  well 
as  that  of  extension,  have  been  from  all  time  con- 
sidered as  essential  properties®"^  of  matter. 

All  the  diverse  properties  that  are  observed  in  this 
unknown  principle  demonstrate  a  being  in  which 
these  same  properties  exist,  a  being  which  must 
therefore  exist  through  itself.  But  we  can  not 
conceive,  or  rather  it  seems  impossible,  that  a  being 


liillii.Mlill.,:.  iska.  .il:ill!i.'.u;.:ll:giiNllikL.L. 


Vi 


154 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


which  exists  through  itself  should  be  able  neither 
to  create  nor  to  annihilate  itself.  It  is  evident  that 
only  the  forms  to  which  its  essential  properties 
make  it  susceptible  can  be  destroyed  and  reproduced 
in  turn.  Thus,  does  experience  force  us  to  confess 
that  nothing  can  come  from  nothing. 

All  philosophers  who  have  not  known  the  light 
of  faith,  have  thought  that  this  substantial  principle 
of  bodies  has  existed  and  will  exist  forever,  and 
that  the  elements  of  matter  have  an  indestructible 
solidity  which  forbids  the  fear  that  the  world  is 
going  to  fall  to  pieces.  The  majority  of  Christian 
philosophers  also  recognize  that  the  substantial  prin- 
ciple of  bodies  exists  necessarily  through  itself,  and 
that  the  power  of  beginning  or  ending  does  not 
accord  with  its  nature.  One  finds  that  this  view  is 
upheld  by  an  author  of  the  last  century  who  taught 
theology  in  Paris. 

CHAPTER  III.  CONCERNING  THE  EXTENSION  OF 

MATTER. 

Although  we  have  no  idea  of  the  essence  of  mat- 
ter, we  can  not  refuse  to  admit  the  existence  of  the 
properties  which  our  senses  discover  in  it. 

I  open  my  eyes,  and  I  see  around  me  only  matter, 
or  the  extended.  Extension  is  then  a  property  which 
always  belongs  to  all  matter,  which  can  belong  to 
matter  alone,  and  which  therefore  is  inseparable 
from  the  substance  of  matter. 

This  property  presupposes  three  dimensions  in 
the  substance  of  bodies,  length,  width,  and  depth. 
Truly,  if  we  consult  our  knowledge,  which  is  gained 
entirely  from  the  senses,  we  cannot  conceive  of 
matter,  or  the  substance  of  bodies,  without  having 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  SOUL.        155 

the  idea  of  a  being  which  is  at  the  same  time  long, 
broad,  and  deep;  because  the  idea  of  these  three 
dimensions  is  necessarily  bound  up  with  our  idea 
of  every  magnitude  or  quantity. 

Those  philosophers  who  have  meditated  most  con- 
cerning matter  do  not  understand  by  the  extension 
of  this  substance,  a  solid  extension  composed  of  dis- 
tinct parts,  capable  of  resistance.  Nothing  is  united, 
nothing  is  divided  in  this  extension ;  for  there  must 
be  a  force  which  separates  to  divide,  and  another 
force  to  unite  the  divided  parts.  But  in  the  opinion 
of  these  physical  philosophers  matter  has  no  actually 
active  force,  because  every  force  can  come  only 
from  movement,  or  from  some  impulse  or  tendency 
toward  movement,  and  they  recognize  in  matter, 
stripped  of  all  form  by  abstraction,  only  a  potential 
moving  force. 

This  theory  is  hard  to  conceive,  but  given  its 
principles,  it  is  rigorously  true  in  its  consequences. 
It  is  one  of  those  algebraic  truths  which  is  more 
readily  believed  than  conceived  by  the  mind. 

The  extension  of  matter  is  then  but  a  metaphys- 
ical extension,  which  according  to  the  idea  of  these 
very  philosophers,  presents  nothing  to  affect  our 
senses.  They  rightly  think  that  only  solid  exten- 
sion can  make  an  impression  on  our  senses.  It 
thus  seems  to  us  that  extension  is  an  attribute  which 
constitutes  part  of  the  metaphysical  form,  but  we 
are  far  from  thinking  that  extension  constitutes  its 
essence. 

However,  before  Descartes,  some  of  the  ancients 
made  the  essence  of  matter  consist  in  solid  exten- 
sion. But  this  opinion,  of  which  all  the  Cartesians 
have  made  much,  has  at  all  times  been  victoriously 


I 


PI' 


156 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


combated  by  clear  reasons,  which  we  will  set  forth 
later,  for  order  demands  that  we  first  examine  to 
what  the  properties  of  extension  can  be  reduced. 

CHAPTER  V.     CONCERNING  THE  MOVING  FORCE 

OF  MATTER. 

The  ancients,  persuaded  that  there  is  no  body 
without  a  moving  force,  regarded  the  substance  of 
bodies  as  composed  of  two  primitive  attributes.  It 
was  held  that,  through  one  of  these  attributes,  this 
substance  has  the  capacity  for  moving  and,  through 
the  other,  the  capacity  for  being  moved.®®  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  it  is  impossible  not  to  conceive  these 
two  attributes  in  every  moving  body,  namely,  the 
thing  which  moves,  and  the  same  thing  which  is 
moved. 

It  has  just  been  said  that  formerly  the  name, 
matter,  was  given  to  the  substance  of  bodies,  in 
so  far  as  it  is  susceptible  of  being  moved.  When 
capable  of  moving  this  same  matter  was  known  by 
the  name  of  "active  principle" . . .  But  these  two 
attributes  seem  to  depend  so  essentially  on  each 
other  that  Cicero,  in  order  better  to  state  this 
essential  and  primitive  union  of  matter  with  its 
moving  principle,  says  that  each  is  found  in  the 
other.  This  expresses  very  well  the  idea  of  the 
ancients. 

From  this  it  is  clear  that  modern  writers  have 
given  us  but  an  inexact  idea  of  matter  in  attempt- 
ing (through  a  confusion  ill  understood)  to  give 
this  name  to  the  substance  of  bodies.  For,  once 
more,  matter,  or  the  passive  principle  of  the  sub- 
stance of  bodies,  constitutes  only  one  part  of  this 
substance.    Thus  it  is  not  surprising  that  these  mod- 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  SOUL.        157 

em  thinkers  have  not  discovered  in  matter  mov- 
ing force  and  the  faculty  of  feeling. 

It  should  now  be  evident  at  the  first  glance,  it 
seems  to  me,  that  if  there  is  an  active  principle  it 
must  have,  in  the  unknown  essence  of  matter,  an- 
other source  than  extension.  This  proves  that  sim- 
ple extension  fails  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the 
complete  essence  or  metaphysical  form  of  the  sub- 
stance of  bodies,  and  that  this  failure  is  due  solely 
to  the  fact  that  extension  excludes  the  idea  of  any 
activity  in  matter.  Therefore,  if  we  demonstrate 
this  moving  principle,  if  we  show  that  matter,  far 
from  being  as  indifferent  as  it  is  supposed  to  be,  to 
movement  and  to  rest,  ought  to  be  regarded  as  an 
active,  as  well  as  a  passive  substance,  what  resource 
can  be  left  to  those  who  have  made  its  essence  con- 
sist in  extension? 

The  two  principles  of  which  we  have  just  spoken, 
extension  and  moving  force,  are  then  but  poten- 
tialities of  the  substance  of  bodies ;  for  in  the  same 
way  in  which  this  substance  is  susceptible  of  move- 
ment, without  actually  being  moved,  it  also  has  al- 
ways, even  when  it  is  not  mo:^ing  itself,  the  faculty 
of  spontaneous  motion. 

The  ancients  have  rightly  noticed  that  this  moving 
force  acts  in  the  substance  of  bodies  onlv  when  the 
substance  is  manifested  in  certain  forms;  they  have 
also  observed  that  the  different  motions  which  it 
produces  are  all  subject  to  these  different  forms  or 
regulated  by  them.  That  is  why  the  forms,  through 
which  the  substance  of  bodies  can  not  only  move, 
but  also  move  in  different  ways,  were  called  material 
forms. 

Once  these  early  masters  had  cast  their  eyes  on 


r 


158 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


all  the  phenomena  of  nature,  they  discovered  in  the 
substance  of  bodies,  the  power  of  self-movement. 
In  fact,  this  substance  either  moves  itself,  or  when 
It  is  in  motion,  the  motion  is  communicated  to  it 
by  another  substance.  But  can  anything  be  seen 
in  this  substance,  save  the  substance  itself  in  action; 
and  if  sometimes  it  seems  to  receive  a  motion  that 
it  has  not,  does  it  receive  that  motion  from  any 
cause  other  than  this  same  kind  of  substance,  whose 
parts  act  the  one  upon  the  other? 

If,  then,  one  infers  another  agent,  I  ask  what 
agent,  and  I  demand  proofs  of  its  existence.  But 
smce  no  one  has  the  least  idea  of  such  an  agent,  it  is 
not  even  a  logical  entity.  Therefore  it  is  clear  that  the 
ancients  must  have  easily  recognized  an  intrinsic 
force  of  motion  within  the  substance  of  bodies, 
smce  in  fact  it  is  impossible  to  prove  or  conceive 
any  other  substance  acting  upon  it. 

Descartes,  a  genius  made  to  blaze  new  paths  and 
to  go  astray  in  them,  supposed  with  some  other 
philosophers  that  God  is  the  only  efficient  cause  of 
motion,  and  that  every  instant  He  communicates 
motion  to  all  bodies.  But  this  opinion  is  but  an 
hypothesis  which  he  tried  to  adjust  to  the  light  of 
faith ;  and  in  so  doing  he  was  no  longer  attempting 
to  speak  as  a  philosopher  or  to  philosophers.  Above 
all  he  was  not  addressing  those  who  can  be  con- 
vinced only  by  the  force  of  evidence. 

The  Christian  Scholastics  of  the  last  centuries 
have  felt  the  full  force  of  this  reflection ;  for  this 
reason  they  have  wisely  limited  themselves  to  purely 
philosophic  knowledge  concerning  the  motion  of 
matter,  although  they  might  have  shown  that  God 
Himself  said  that  He  had  "imprinted  an  active  prin- 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  SOUL.        159 

ciple  in  the  elements  of  matter  (Gen.  i;  Is.  Ixvi)." 
One  might  here  make  up  a  long  list  of  author- 
ities, and  take  from  the  most  celebrated  professors 
the  substance  of  the  doctrine  of  all  the  rest ;  but  it 
is  clear  enough,  without  a  medley  of  citations,  that 
matter  contains  this  moving  force  which  animates 
it,  and  which  is  the  immediate  cause  of  all  the  laws 
of  motion. 


CHAPTER  VI.     CONCERNING  THE  SENSITIVE 
FACULTY  OF  MATTER. 

We  have  spoken  of  two  essential  attributes  of 
matter,  upon  which  depend  the  greater  number  of 
its  properties,  namely  extension  and  moving  force. 
We  have  now  but  to  prove  a  third  attribute:  I 
mean  the  faculty  of  feeling  which  the  philosophers 
of  all  centuries  have  found  in  this  same  substance. 
I  say  all  philosophers,  although  I  am  not  ignorant 
of  all  the  efforts  which  the  Cartesians  have  made, 
in  vain,  to  rob  matter  of  this  faculty.  But  in  order 
to  avoid  insurmountable  difficulties,  they  have  flung 
themselves  into  a  labyrinth  from  which  they  have 
thought  to  escape  by  this  absurd  system  "that  ani- 
mals are  pure  machines."®^ 

An  opinion  so  absurd  has  never  gained  admittance 
among  philosophers,  except  as  the  play  of  wit  or  as 
a  philosophical  pastime.  For  this  reason  we  shall 
not  stop  to  refute  it.  Experience  gives  us  no  less 
proof  of  the  faculty  of  feeling  in  animals  than  of 
feeling  in  men 

There  comes  up  another  difficulty  which  more 
nearly  concerns  our  vanity:  namely,  the  impossi- 
bility of  our  conceiving  this  property  as  a  depend- 
ence or  attribute  of  matter.    Let  it  not  be  forgotten 


160 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


that  this  substance  reveals  to  us  only  ineffable  char- 
acters. Do  we  understand  better  how  extension  is 
derived  from  its  essence,  how  it  can  be  moved  by 
a  primitive  force  whose  action  is  exerted  without 
contact,  and  a  thousand  other  miracles  so  hidden 
from  the  gaze  of  the  most  penetrating  eyes,  that 
(to  paraphrase  the  idea  of  an  illustrious  modern 
writer)  they  reveal  or«ly  the  curtain  which  conceals 
them  ? 

But  might  not  one  suppose  as  some  have  sup- 
posed, that  the  feeling  which  is  observed  in  ani- 
mated bodies,  might  belong  to  a  being  distinct  from 
the  matter  of  these  bodies,  to  a  substance  of  a 
different  nature  united  to  them?  Does  the  light  of 
reason  allow  us  in  good  faith  to  admit  such  con- 
jectures? We  know  in  bodies  only  matter,  and  we 
observe  the  faculty  of  feeling  only  in  bodies:  on 
what  foundation  then  can  we  erect  an  ideal  being, 
disowned  by  all  our  knowledge? 

However,  we  must  admit,  with  the  same  frank- 
ness, that  we  are  ignorant  whether  matter  has  in 
itself  the  faculty  of  feeling,  or  only  the  power  of 
acquiring  it  by  those  modifications  or  forms  to 
which  matter  is  susceptible;  for  it  is  true  that  this 
faculty  of  feeling  appears  only  in  organic  bodies. 

This  is  then  another  new  faculty  which  might 
exist  only  potentially  in  matter,  like  all  the  others 
which  have  been  mentioned;  and  this  was  the 
hypothesis  of  the  ancients,  whose  philosophy,  full 
of  insight  and  penetration,  deserves  to  be  raised 
above  the  ruins  of  the  philosophy  of  the  moderns. 
It  is  in  vain  that  the  latter  disdain  the  sources  too 
remote  from  them.  Ancient  philosophy  will  always 
hold  its  own  among  those  who  are  worthy  to  judge 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  SOUL.        161 

It,  because  it  forms  (at  least  in  relation  to  the  subject 
of  which  I  am  treating)  a  system  that  is  solid  and 
well  articulated  like  the  body,  whereas  all  these 
scattered  members  of  modern  philosophy  form  no 
system. 


'  / 


ii 


APPENDIX. 


OUTLINES  AND  NOTES. 


BY  GERTRUDE  CARMAN  BUSSEY. 


LA  METTRIE'S  RELATION  TO  HIS  PRED- 
ECESSORS AND  TO  HIS  SUCCESSORS. 

I.  The  Historical  Relation  of  La  Mettrie  to  Rene 

Descartes  (1596-1650). 

The  most  direct  source  of  La  Mettrie^s  work,  if 
the  physiological  aspect  of  his  system  is  set  aside, 
is  found  in  the  philosophy  of  Descartes.     In  fact 
it  sometimes  seems  as  if  La  Mettrie's  materialism 
grew  out  of  his  insistence  on  the  contradictory  char- 
acter of  the  dualistic  system  of  Descartes.   He  criti- 
cises Descartes's  statement  that  the  body  and  soul 
are  absolutely  independent,  and  takes  great  pains  to 
show  the  dependence  of  the  soul  on  the  body.    Yet 
though  La  Mettrie's  system  may  be  opposed  to  that 
of  Descartes^  from  one  point  of  view,  from  another 
point  of  view  it  seems  to  be  a  direct  consequence  of 
it.    La  Mettrie  himself  recognizes  this  relationship 
and  feels  that  his  doctrine  that  man  is  a  machine, 
IS  a  natural  inference  from  Descartes's  teaching 
that  animals  are  mere  machines.^     Moreover  La 
Mettrie  carries  on  Descartes's  conception  of  the 
body  as  a  machine,  and  many  of  his  detailed  dis- 
cussions of  the  machinery  of  the  body  seem  to  have 
been  drawn  from  Descartes. 

"LTiistoire  naturelle  de  rame,"  chapters  XI,  VIII. 


i« 


S«1 


r>-.'^^"  ?  ^*<=ti"«".  P-,  '42.    Cf.  U  Mettrie's  commentary  on 
ffi«^MrTome*'"^        ^'*''**  ^^  ""*^'"''  P'-Wosophiiuesl" 


\K 


%  ■ 


u 


'tj 


166 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


It  should  be  noted  that  La  Mettrie  did  justice  to 
Descartes,  and  realized  how  much  all  philosophers 
owed  to  him.    He  insisted  moreover  that  Descartes's 
errors  were  due  to  his  failure  to  follow  his  own 
method.3     Yet  La  Mettrie's  method  was  different 
from  that  of  Descartes,  for  La  Mettrie  was  an 
empiricist*  without   rationalistic  leaning.     As   re- 
gards doctrine:    La  Mettrie    differed    from  Des- 
cartes m  his  opinion  of  matter.    Since  he  disbelieved 
m  any  spiritual  reality,  he  gave  matter  the  attri- 
butes of  motion  and  thought,  while  Descartes  insisted 
that  the  one  attribute  of  matter  is  extension."    It 
was  a  natural  consequence  of  La  Mettrie's  disbelief 
in  spiritual  substance  that  he  could  throw  doubt  on 
the  existence  of  God.*    On  the  other  hand  the  be- 
lief in  God  was  one  of  the  foundations  of  Des- 
cartes s   system.      La   Mettrie   tried   to   show   that 
Descartes's  l^elief  in  a  soul  and  in  God  was  merely 
designed  to  hide  his  true  thought  from  the  priests, 
and  to  save  himself  from  persecution.^ 

Ila.  The  Likeness  of  La  Mettrie  to  the  English  Ma- 
terialists, Thomas  Hobbcs  (1588-1679)  and 
■      John  Toland  (1670-1721). 

The  influence  of  Descartes  upon  La  Mettrie  can- 
not  be  questioned  but  it  is  more  difficult  to  estimate 
the  influence  upon  him  of  materialistic  philosophers. 

Phktes%,^tV'"'^"'''-  Descartes,"  p.  6,  (Euvres  PMloso. 

I  Descartes.  "Principles."  Part  II,  Prop.  4. 
•  "Man  a  Machine,"  pp.  122-126. 
^  Ihid.,  p.  142. 


M  " 


APPENDIX. 


167 


Hobbes  published  "The  Leviathan"  in  1651  and 
"De  Corpore"  in  1655.  Thus  he  wrote  about  a 
century  before  La  Mettrie,  and  since  the  eighteenth 
century  was  one  in  which  the  influence  of  England 
upon  France  was  very  great,  it  is  easy  to  suppose 
that  La  Mettrie  had  read  Hobbes.  If  so,  he  must 
have  gained  many  ideas  from  him.  The  extent  of 
this  influence  is,  however,  unknown,  for  La  Mettrie 
rarely  if  ever  quotes  from  Hobbes,  or  attributes 
any  of  his  doctrines  to  Hobbes. 

In  the  first  place,  both  Hobbes  and  La  Mettrie 
are  thoroughgoing  materialists.  They  both  beHeve 
that  body  is  the  only  reaHty,  and  that  anything 
spiritual  is  unimaginable. ^  Furthermore  their  con- 
ceptions of  matter  are  very  similar.  According  to 
La  Mettrie,  matter  contains  the  faculty  of  sensation 
and  the  power  of  motion  as  well  as  the  quality  of 
extension.^  This  same  conception  of  matter  is  held 
by  Hobbes,  for  he  specifically  attributes  extension 
and  motion  to  matter,  and  then  reduces  sensation  to 
a  kind  of  internal  motion. ^^  Thus  sensation  also 
may  be  an  attribute  of  matter.  Moreover  Hobbes 
and  La  Mettrie  are  in  agreement  on  many  smaller 
points,  and  La  Mettrie  elaborates  much  that  is  sug- 
gested in  Hobbes.  They  both  believe  that  the  pas- 
sions are  dependent  on  bodily  conditions.  ^^  They 
agree  in  the  belief  that  all  the  diflFerences  in  men 
are  due  to  differences  in  the  constitution  and  organi- 

Xn^On^I'v"^.''?!??""   ^^1^"'   Chap.34;    Part   I,   aap. 
All,  Upen  Court  Edition,  p.  169. 

L'histoire  naturelle  de  I'ame,"  Chapters  III,  V,  and  VI. 

Tv7r^'''^vt"Vr^*'"*  ^'  ^^^P-  ^'    ^^'  "Concerning  Body,"  Part 
IV,  Uiap.  XXV,  2. 


10 


U  « 


Man  a  Machine,"  pp.  90-91. 


1^- 


168 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


zation  of  their  bodies."  They  both  discuss  the  nature 
and  importance  of  language. ^^ 

Hobbes  differes  from  La  Mettrie  in  holding  that 
we  can  be  sure  that  God  exists  as  the  cause  of  this 
world.  1*  However  even  though  he  thinks  that  it 
is  possible  to  know  that  God  exists,  he  does  not  be- 
lieve that  we  can  know  his  nature. 

La  Mettrie's  system  may  be  regarded  as  the  ap- 
plication of  a  system  like  that  of  Hobbes  to  the 
special  problem  of  the  relation  of  soul  and  body  in 
man;  for  if  there  is  nothing  in  the  universe  but  mat- 
ter and  motion,  it  inevitably  follows  that  man  is 
merely  a  very  complicated  machine. 

There  is  great  similarity  also  between  the  doc- 
trine of  La  Mettrie  and  that  of  Toland.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note  the  points  of  resemblance  and  of 
difference.  Toland's  "Letters  to  Serena,"  which 
contain  much  of  his  philosophical  teaching,  were 
published  in  1704.  There  is  a  possibility  therefore 
that  La  Mettrie  read  them  and  gained  some  sugges- 
tions from  them. 

The  point  most  emphasized  in  Toland's  teach- 
ing's is  that  motion  is  an  attribute  of  matter.  He 
argues  for  this  belief  on  the  ground  that  matter 
must  be  essentially  active  in  order  to  undergo 
change,i«  and  that  the  conception  of  the  inertness 
of  matter  is  based  on  the  conception  of  absolute 
rest,  and  that  this  absolute  rest  is  nowhere  to  be 

''Ibid.,  Part  I,  Chap.  IV.  Cf.  "Man  a  Machine,"  p.  103. 

**/Wrf.,  Part  I,  Chap.  XII. 

"  "Letters  to  Serena,"  V,  p.  i6a 

^Ibid.,  p.  rg6. 


APPENDIX. 


169 


found. '^  Since  motion  is  essential  to  matter,  there 
is  no  need,  Toland  believes,  to  account  for  the  be- 
ginning of  motion.  Those  who  have  regarded  mat- 
ter as  inert  have  had  to  find  some  efficient  cause  for 
motion,  and  to  do  this,  they  have  held  that  all  nature 
is  animated.  But  this  pretended  animation  is  utterly 
useless,  since  matter  is  itself  endowed  with  motion.'® 
The  likeness  to  La  Mettrie  is  evident.  La  Mettrie 
likewise  opposes  the  doctrine  of  the  animation  of 
matter,  and  the  belief  in  any  external  cause  of  mo- 
tion.'® Yet  he  feels  the  need  of  postulating  some 
beginning  of  motion,^^  and  although  he  uses  the 
conception  so  freely,  he  does  not  agree  with  Toland 
that  the  nature  of  motion  is  known.  He  believes 
that  it  is  impossible  to  know  the  nature  of  motion,^' 
while  Toland  believes  that  the  nature  of  motion  is 
self-evident.  2^ 

Another  point  of  contrast  between  Toland  and 
La  Mettrie  is  in  their  doctrines  of  God.  Toland 
believes  that  God,  "a  pure  spirit  or  immaterial  be- 
ing," is  necessary  for  his  system,^^  while  La  Mettrie 
questions  God's  existence  and  insists  that  immate- 
riality and  spirituality  are  fine  words  that  no  one 
understands. 

It  must  be  admitted,  in  truth,  that  La  Mettrie  and 
Toland  have  different  interests  and  different  points 
of  view.  Toland  is  concerned  to  discover  the  essen- 
tial nature  of  matter,  while  La  Mettrie's  problem 

"  Ibid.,  p.  203. 

^^Ibid.,  p.  199. 

"  "L'histoire  naturelle  de  rame,"  Chap.  V,  p.  94. 

*  "Man  a  Machine,"  p.  139. 

**  "Man  a  Machine,  p.  140. 

"  "Letters  to  Serena,"  V,  p.  227. 

^Ibid.j  V,  p.  234. 


,' 


^4 


170 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


is  to  find  the  specific  relation  of  body  and  mind. 
On  this  relation,  he  builds  his  whole  system. 

b  The  Relation  of  La  Met  trie  to  an  English  Sensa- 
tionalist: John  Locke  (1632-1704). 

Locke's  "Essay  Concerning  Human  Understand- 
ing" was  published  in  1690,  and  La  Mettrie,  like 
most  cultured  Frenchmen  of  the  Enlightenment,  was 
mfluenced  by  his  teaching.     The  main  agreement 
between  Locke  and  La  Mettrie  is  in  their  doctrine 
that  all  ideas  are  derived   from  sensation.     Both 
vigorously  oppose  the  belief  in  innate  ideas,24  teach- 
ing that  even  our  most  complex  and  our  most  ab- 
stract ideas  are  gained  through  sensation.     But  La 
Mettrie  does  not  follow  Locke  in  analyzing  these 
ideas  and  in  concluding  that  many  sensible  qualities 
of  objects— such  as  colors,  sounds,  etc.— have  no 
existence  outside  the  mind.25    He  rejects  Locke's 
doctrine    of    spiritual    substances,2«    and    opposes 
Locke's  theistic  teaching,  laying  stress,  on  the  other 
hand,  upon  Locke's  admission  of  the  possibility  that 
"thinking  being  may  also  be  material.  "^^ 

Ilia.     The  Likeness,  probable  but  unacknozvledged, 

to  La  Mettrie,  of  the  French  Sensationalists] 

Ettenne  Bonnot  de  Condillac  (1715-1780)  and 

Claude  Adrien  Helvetius  (1715-1771). 

Condillac's  "Traite  des  sensations"  was  published 

about  ten  years  after  La  Mettrie's  "L'histoire  na- 

B^t^B^'k'n,  '^.^'"''"""'"^  ^""'"  Understanding.'' 
"Locke,  "Essay,"  Book  II,  Chap,  a 
"/feiU,  Book  II,  Chap.  23. 

Locke'lf  ?k  "Ai^'-^^P-  '°-  «^°^^^  M^«"«'s  summary  of 
i-ocke,  cf.  his    Abrege  dcs  systemes."  (Euvres,  Tome  2. 


APPENDIX. 


171 


turelle  de  I'ame,"  and  therefore  it  is  probable  that 
Condillac  had  read  this  work,  and  gained  some  ideas 
from  it.  Yet  Condillac  never  mentions  La  Mettrie's 
name  nor  cites  his  doctrines.  This  omission  may 
be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  works  of  La 
Mettrie  had  been  so  condemned  that  later  philos- 
ophers wished  to  conceal  the  similarity  of  their 
doctrines  to  his.  Whether  the  sensationalists  were 
influenced  by  his  teachings  or  not,  there  is  such  a 
profound  likeness  in  their  teachings,  that  La  Mettrie 
may  well  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  first  French 
sensationalists  as  well  as  one  of  the  leading  French 
materialists  of  the  time. 

Condillac  and  La  Mettrie  agree  that  experience 
IS  the  source  of  all  knowledge.  As  Lange  sug- 
gests,^® La  Mettrie's  development  of  reason  from 
the  imagination  may  have  suggested  to  Condillac 
the  way  to  develop  all  the  faculties  from  the  soul. 
La  Mettrie  asserts  that  reason  is  but  the  sensitive 
soul  contemplating  its  ideas,  and  that  imagination 
plays  all  the  roles  of  the  soul,  while  Condillac  elab- 
orates the  same  idea,  and  shows  in  great  detail  how 
all  the  faculties  of  the  soul  are  but  modifications  of 
sensation.^^ 

Both  La  Mettrie  and  Condillac  believe  that  there 
is  no  gulf  between  man  and  the  lower  animals ;  but 
this  leads  to  a  point  of  disagreement  between  the 
two  philosophers,  for  Condillac  absolutely  denies 
that  animals  can  be  mere  machines,^^  and  we  must 
suppose  that  he  would  the  more  ardently  oppose  the 
teaching  that  man  is  merely  a  complicated  machine ! 

*  F.  A.  Lange,  "History  of  Materialism,"  Vol.  II,  Chap.  IL 
""Traite  des  sensations,"  Part  I. 
■•"Traite  des  animaux,"  Chap.  I,  p.  454. 


172 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


APPENDIX. 


173 


Condillac  finally,  unlike  La  Mettrie,  believes  in  the 
existence  of  God.  A  final  point  of  contrast  also 
concerns  the  theology  of  the  two  writers.  La  Met- 
trie insists  that  we  can  not  be  sure  that  there  is  any 
purpose  in  the  world,  while  Condillac  affirms  that 
we  can  discern  intelligence  and  design  throughout 
the  universe.  ^^ 

Like  La  Mettrie  and  Condillac,  Helvetius  teaches 
that  all  the  faculties  of  the  mind  can  be  reduced  to 
sensation.«2  Unlike  La  Mettrie,  he  specifically  dis- 
tinguishes the  mind  from  the  soul,  and  describes 
the  mind  as  a  later  developed  product  of  the  soul 
or  faculty  of  sensation.^^  This  idea  may  have  been 
suggested  by  La  Mettrie's  statement  that  reason 
is  a  modification  of  sensation.  Helvetius,  however, 
unlike  La  Mettrie,  does  not  clearly  decide  that  sen- 
sation is  but  a  result  of  bodily  conditions,  and  he 
admits  that  sensation  may  be  a  modification  of  a 
spiritual  substance.^^  Moreover,  he  claims  that  cli- 
mate and  food  have  no  effect  on  the  mind,  and  that 
the  superiority  of  the  understanding  is  not  depen- 
dent on  the  strength  of  the  body  and  its  organs.^^ 

La  Mettrie  and  Helvetius  resemble  each  other 
in  ethical  doctrine.  Both  make  pleasure  and  pain 
the  ruling  motives  of  man's  conduct.  They  claim 
that  all  the  emotions  are  merely  modifications  of 
corporeal  pleasure  and  pain,  and  that  therefore  the 
only  principle  of  action  in  man  is  the  desire  for 
pleasure  and  the  fear  of  pain.^^ 

Traite  des  animaux,"  Chap.  VI,  p.  577  ff. 
Treatise  on  Man,"  Sect.  II,  Chap.  I,  p.  96. 

Ibid.,  Sect.  II,  Chap.  II,  p.  108. 
'Essays  on  the  Mind,"  Essay  II,  Chap.  I.  p.  35. 

I  "Treatise  on  Man,"  Chap.  XII,  p.  161. 

'Ibid.,  Chap.  IX,  p.  146;  Chap.  VII,  p.  129. 


nw 


U  Id 


b.  The  Likeness  to  La  Mettrie  of  the  French  Mate- 
rialist, Baron  Paul  Heinrich  Dietrich  von  Hoi- 
bach  (1723-1789). 

As  Condillac  and  Helvetius  emphasize  the  sensa- 
tionalism taught  by  La  Mettrie,  so  Holbach's  book 
is  a  reiteration  and  elaboration  of  the  materialism 
set  forth  in  La  Mettrie*s  works.  The  teaching  of 
Holbach  is  so  like  that  of  La  Mettrie,  that  the  simi- 
larity can  hardly  be  a  coincidence. 

La  Mettrie  regards  experience  as  the  only  teacher. 
Holbach  dwells  on  this  same  idea,  and  insists  that 
experience  is  our  only  source  of  knowledge  in  all 
matters.^^  Holbach  likewise  teaches  that  man  is 
a  purely  material  being.  He  disbelieves  in  any  spir- 
itual reality  whatsoever,  and  makes  matter  the  only 
substance  in  the  world.  He  lays  stress,  also,  on  one 
thought  which  is  a  natural  consequence  of  La  Met- 
trie's  teaching.  La  Mettrie  has  limited  the  action 
of  the  will  and  has  insisted  that  the  will  is  dependent 
on  bodily  conditions.  Holbach  goes  further  and 
declares  lepeatedly  that  all  freedom  is  a  delusion, 
and  that  man  is  controlled  in  every  action  by  rigid 
necessity.^®  This  teaching  seems  to  be  the  natural 
outcome  of  the  belief  that  man  is  a  machine. 

Holbach*s  atheistic  theology  is  more  extreme  than 
his  predecessor's,  for  La  Mettrie  admits  that  God 
may  exist,  while  Holbach  vigorously  opposes  the 
possibility.  Moreover  Holbach  holds  the  opinion, 
barely  suggested  by  La  Mettrie,  that  an  atheistic 
doctrine  would  ameliorate  the  condition  of  man- 

'Systeme  de  la  nature,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  I,  p.  6. 
"Systeme  de  la  nature,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  VI,  p.  94. 


91  Ut 


174 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


kind.3®  He  insists  that  the  idea  of  God  has  hin- 
dered the  progress  of  reason  and  interfered  with 
natural  law.  Holbach  is  indeed  the  only  one  of 
the  philosophers  here  discussed,  who  frankly  adopts 
a  fatalistic  and  atheistic  doctrine  of  the  universe. 
In  these  respects,  his  teaching  is  the  culmination  of 
French  materialism. 

r^-^"^"  ^^!^  "u'-^^fP*  ^^^'  Pv45i.  and  Chap.  XXVI,  p.  485. 
Cf.    Man  a  Machine,"  pp.  125-126. 


V 


I 


OUTLINE  OF  LA  METTRIE'S  METAPHYS- 
ICAL DOCTRINE. 

PAGES* 

I.  Insistence  on  the  Empirical  Standpoint.  .i6f.;  88f.;  72,  142 

II.  Arguments  in  Favor  of  Materialism: 

a.  The  "Soul"  is  Affected, 

1.  By  Disease • i8f. ;  gof. 

2.  By  Sleep igf. ;  gii. 

3.  By  Drugs 20 ;  92 

4.  By  Food 2if. ;  93if. 

5.  By  Age  and  Sex 23! ;  95!. 

6.  By  Temperature  and  Climate 24! ;  g6S, 

b.  There  is  No  Sharp  Distinction  Between  Men 

and  Animals  (Machines) 

28f.,  looff.;  4iff.,  ii3ff.;  75!.,  I42f. 

c.  Bodily  Movements  are  Due  to  the  "Motive 

Power"  of  the  Body siff.,  i29flF. 

III.  Conception  of  Matter. 

a.  Matter  is  Extended 154! 

b.  Matter  Has  the  Power  of  Motion 70,  140;  i56flF. 

c.  Matter  Has  the  Faculty  of  Feeling I59ff. 

rV.  Conception  of  Man: 

a.  Man  is  a  Machine 

17,  89;  21,  93;  56,  128;  69,  I40f.;  73,  143;  80,  148 

b.  All  Man's  Faculties  Reduce  to  Sense  and  Im- 

agination   35ff.,  io7ff. 

c.  Man  is  Like  Animals   in  Being  Capable  of 

Education    38,   no 

d.  Man  is  Ignorant  of  His  Destiny 79,  147 

V.  Theological  Doctrine: 

o.  The  Existence  of  God  is  Unproved  and  Prac- 
tically Unimportant 50,  122 

b.  The    Argument    from    Design    is    Ineffective 

Against  the  Hypothesis  of  Mechanical  Cau- 

sahty  siff.,  i24ff. 

c.  Atheism  Makes  for  Happiness 55,  I26f. 

*  The  references  are  to  pages  of  this  book. 


: 


ii 


NOTES.^ 

NOTE  ON  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT'S  EULOGY. 

This  translation  is  made  from  the  third  volume,  pp.  159  ff. 
of  ,^"vresde  Frederic  II.,  Roi  de  Prusse,  Publiees  du  vivant 
de  I'Auteur,"  Berlin.  1789. 

La  Mettrie  was  received  at  the  court  of  Frederick  the  Great, 
when  he  had  been  driven  from  Holland  on  account  of  the 
heretical  teaching  of  "L'Homme  Machine,"  The  "Eloge"  was 
read  by  Darget,  the  secretary  of  the  king,  at  a  public  meeting 
of  the  Academy  of  Berlin,  to  which,  at  the  initiative  of  Frede- 
nck.  La  Mettrie  had  been  admitted. 

llie  careful  reader  wiU  not  fail  to  note  that  Frederick's 
arithmetic  is  at  fault,  and  that  La  Mettrie  died  at  the  age  of 
forty-one,  not  forty-three,  years. 

At  a  few  points,  perhaps,  the  Eloge  demands  elucidation. 
Coutances  like  Caen,  is  a  Norman  town.  St.  Malo  lies,  just 
over  the  border,  in  Brittany.  U  Mettrie's  military  service 
was  with  the  French  in  the  Silesian  wars  against  Maria 
Theresa.  The  battle  of  Dettingen  was  fought  in  Bavaria  and 
was  won  by  the  Austrians  through  the  aid  given  by  George  II 
of  England  to  Maria  Theresa,  The  battle  of  Fontenoy  in  the 
Netherlands  was  the  only  victory  of  the  French  in  this  war. 

Other  accounts  of  the  life  of  La  Mettrie  are: 

J.  Assezat,  Introduction  to  'X'Homme  Machine,"  Paris,  1865 

F.  A.  Lange,  "History  of  Materialism." 

Ph.  Damiron,  "Histoire  de  la  philosophie  du  dix-huitieme 
siecle,"  Pans,  1858. 

N.  Quepat,  **La  philosophie  materialiste  au  XVIII*  siecle. 
Essai  sur  La  Mettrie,  sa  vie,  ct  scs  ceuvres."   Paris,  1873. 

«r«^rt!r'^"*  "^   u.  *^.?  ^^"^  "^"^  «°  PP-  '^^'^7.  except  ref- 
erencea  to     Man  a  Machme"  which  are  to  thi.  translation.    ThTtrans- 

wJL""^°*.  .'''^•."^.*  ^""'**  *^  "  °^^  ^"^'^^^  ^  the  editor 
has  made  use  of  translation  or  of  French  text 


^""V^ 


^FTW^^' 


-rrr 


NOTES  ON  MAN  A  MACHINE. 

I.  ^'Matter  may  well  be  endowed  with  the  faculty  of 
thought."  Although  La  Mettrie  attempts  to  "avoid  this  reef," 
by  refraining  from  the  use  of  these  words,  yet  he  asserts 
throughout  his  work  that  sensations,  consciousness,  and  the 
soul  itself  are  modifications  of  matter  and  motion. 

The  possibility  of  matter  being  endowed  with  the  faculty 
of  thought,  is  denied  by  Elie  Luzac,  the  publisher  of  "L'homme 
machine,"  in  his  work  "L'homme  plus  que  machine."  In  this 
work  he  tries  to  disprove  the  conclusions  of  "L'homme  ma- 
chine." He  says:  "We  have  therefore  proved  by  the  idea  of 
the  inert  state  of  matter,  by  that  of  motion,  by  that  of  rela- 
tions, by  that  of  activity,  by  that  of  extension,  that  matter  can 
not  be  possessed  of  the  faculty  of  thinking". ..  ."To  be  brief, 
I  say,  that  if,  by  a  material  substance,  we  understand  that 
matter  which  falls  under  the  cognizance  of  our  senses,  and 
which  is  endowed  with  the  qualities  we  have  mentioned,  the 
soul  can  not  be  material :  so  that  it  must  be  immaterial,  and, 
for  the  same  reason,  God  could  not  have  given  the  faculty  of 
thinking  to  matter,  since  He  can  not  perform  contradic- 
tions."* 

2.  "How  can  we  define  a  being  whose  nature  is  absolutely 
unknown  to  us?"  La  Mettrie  uses  this  as  an  argument  against 
the  belief  in  a  soul,  and  yet  he  later  admits  that  the  "nature 
of  motion  is  as  unknown  to  us  as  the  nature  of  matter."  It  is 
difficult  then  to  see  why  there  is  more  reason  to  doubt  the 
existence  of  spirit,  than  to  doubt  the  existence  of  matter. 
Locke  makes  this  point  very  well.  "It  is  for  want  of  reflec- 
tion that  we  are  apt  to  think  that  our  senses  show  us  nothing 
but  material  things.    Every  act  of  sensation,  when  duly  con- 

Jil2^^.  ^*15*i,*?u"  a  Machine,"  pp.   10,   12.     For  sUtement  of  the 
editions  to  which  these  Notes  malce  reference,  see  pp.  205-207. 


r 


•I*^il6s»..?%  a.  T  fti,  %i^ 


iSL 


.  iT^i.^ 


NOTES.^ 


NOTE  ON  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT'S  EULOGY. 

This  translation  is  made  from  the  third  volume,  pp.  159  ff. 
of  "CEuvres  de  Frederic  II.,  Roi  de  Prusse,  Publiees  du  vivant 
de  I'Auteur/-  Berlin,  1789. 

La  Mettrie  was  received  at  the  court  of  Frederick  the  Great, 
when  he  had  been  driven  from  Holland  on  account  of  the 
heretical  teaching  of  X'Homme  Machine,"  The  "Eloge"  was 
read  by  Darget,  the  secretary  of  the  king,  at  a  public  meeting 
of  the  Academy  of  Berlin,  to  which,  at  the  initiative  of  Frede- 
rick, La  Mettrie  had  been  admitted. 

The  careful  reader  will  not  fail  to  note  that  Frederick's 
arithmetic  is  at  fault,  and  that  La  Mettrie  died  at  the  age  of 
forty-one,  not  forty-three,  years. 

At  a  few  points,  perhaps,  the  Eloge  demands  elucidation. 
Coutances,  like  Caen,  is  a  Norman  town.  St.  Malo  lies,  just 
over  the  border,  in  Brittany.  La  Mettrie's  military  service 
was  with  the  French  in  the  Silesian  wars  against  Maria 
Theresa.  The  battle  of  Dettingen  was  fought  in  Bavaria  and 
was  won  by  the  Austrians  through  the  aid  given  by  George  II 
of  England  to  Maria  Theresa.  The  battle  of  Fontenoy  in  the 
Netherlands  was  the  only  victory  of  the  French  in  this  war. 

Other  accounts  of  the  life  of  La  Mettrie  are: 

J.  Assezat,  Introduction  to  "L'Homme  Machine,"  Paris,  1865. 

F.  A.  Lange,  "History  of  MateriaHsm." 

Ph.  Damiron,  "Histoire  de  la  philosophie  du  dix-huitiemc 
siecle,"  Paris,  1858.    - 

N.  Quepat,  "La  philosophie  materialiste  au  XVIIP  siecle. 
Essai  sur  La  Mettrie,  sa  vie,  ct  scs  oeuvrcs."   Paris,  1873. 

*  Page-references  are  to  the  editions  dted  on  pp.  305-307,  except  ref- 
erences to  "Man  a  Machine"  which  are  to  this  translation.  The  trans- 
lated or  original  title  of  a  French  book  is  dted  according  as  the  editor 
has  made  use  of  translation  or  of  French  text. 


NOTES  ON  MAN  A  MACHINE. 

I.   "Matter   may   well   he   endowed   with   the    faculty   of 
thought."    Although  La  Mettrie  attempts  to  "avoid  this  reef," 
by  refraining  from  the  use  of  these  words,  yet  he  asserts  '' 
throughout  his  work  that  sensations,  consciousness,  and  the 
soul  itself  are  modifications  of  matter  and  motion.  ^ 

The  possibility  of  matter  being  endowed  with  the  faculty 
of  thought,  is  denied  by  Elie  Luzac,  the  publisher  of  "L'homme 
machine,"  in  his  work  "L'homme  plus  que  machine."  In  this 
work  he  tries  to  disprove  the  conclusions  of  "L'homme  ma- 
chine." He  says:  "We  have  therefore  proved  by  the  idea  of 
the  inert  state  of  matter,  by  that  of  motion,  by  that  of  rela- 
tions, by  that  of  activity,  by  that  of  extension,  that  matter  can 

not  be  possessed  of  the  faculty  of  thinking" "To  be  brief, 

I  say,  that  if,  by  a  material  substance,  we  understand  that 
matter  which  falls  under  the  cognizance  of  our  senses,  and 
which  is  endowed  with  the  qualities  we  have  mentioned,  the 
soul  can  not  be  material:  so  that  it  must  be  immaterial,  and, 
for  the  same  reason,  God  could  not  have  given  the  faculty  of 
thinking  to  matter,  since  He  can  not  perform  contradic- 
tions."* 


r 


2.  "How  can  we  define  a  being  whose  nature  is  absolutely 
unknown  to  us?"  La  Mettrie  uses  this  as  an  argument  against 
the  belief  in  a  soul,  and  yet  he  later  admits  that  the  "nature 
of  motion  is  as  unknown  to  us  as  the  nature  of  matter."  It  is 
difficult  then  to  see  why  there  is  more  reason  to  doubt  the 
existence  of  spirit,  than  to  doubt  the  existence  of  matter. 
Locke  makes  this  point  very  well.  "It  is  for  want  of  reflec- 
tion that  we  are  apt  to  think  that  our  senses  show  us  nothing 
but  material  things.    Every  act  of  sensation,  when  duly  con- 

*"Man  More  than  a  Machine,"  pp.  10,  12.  For  statement  of  the 
editions  to  which  these  Notes  make  reference,  see  pp.  205-207. 


178 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


sidered,  gives  us  an  equal  view  of  both  parts  of  nature,  the 
corporeal  and  spiritual."*. ..  ."If  this  notion  of  immaterial  spirit 
may  have,  perhaps,  some  difficulties  in  it  not  easy  to  be  ex- 
plained, we  have  therefore  no  more  reason  to  deny  or  doubt 
the  existence  of  such  spirits,  than  we  have  to  deny  or  doubt 
the  existence  of  body  because  the  notion  of  body  is  cumbered 
with  some  difficulties,  very  hard  and  perhaps  impossible  to  be 
explained  or  understood  by  us."* 

3.  "Author  of  the  'Spectacle  de  la  nature* "  Noel  Antoine 
Pluche  (1688-1761)  was  a  Jansenist  author.  He  was  Director 
of  the  College  of  Laon,  but  was  deprived  of  his  position  on 
account  of  his  refusal  to  adhere  to  the  bull  "Unigenitus." 
Rollin  then  recommended  him  to  Gasville,  intendant  of  Nor- 
mandy, who  entrusted  him  with  his  son's  education.  He 
finally  settled  in  Paris.  His  principal  works  are:  "Spectacle 
de  la  nature,"  (Paris,  1739)  ;  "Mecanique  des  langues  et  I'art 
de  les  enseigner,"  (Paris,  1751)  ;  "Harmonic  des  Psaumes  et 
de  I'Evangile,"  (Paris,  1764) ;  "Concorde  de  la  geographic  des 
diflferents  ages,"  (Paris,  1765)  * 

La  Mettrie  describes  Pluche  in  the  "Essais  sur  1  esprit  et 
les  beaux  esprits**  thus:  "Without  wit,  without  taste,  he  is 
Rollin's  pedant.  A  superficial  man,  he  had  need  of  the  work 
of  M.  Reaumur,  of  whom  he  is  only  a  stale  and  tiresome  imi- 
tator in  the  flat  little  sayings  scattered  in  his  dialogues.  It 
was  with  the  works  of  Rollin  as  with  the  'Spectacle  de  la  Na- 
ture,' one  made  the  fortune  of  the  other :  Gaqon  praised  Person, 
Person  praised  Ga<;on,  and  the  public  praised  them  both."' 

This  quotation  from  La  Mettrie  occurs  in  Assezat's  edition 
of  La  Mettrie's  "L'homme  machine,"  which  was  published  as 
the  second  volume  of  the  series  "Singularites  physiologiques' 
(1865).  Assezat  was  a  French  publisher  and  writer.  He 
was  at  one  time  Secretary  of  the  Anthropological  Society,  and 
collaborated  with  other  writers  in  the  publication  of  "La  Re- 
vue Nationale,"  "La  Revue  de  Paris,"  and  "La  Pensee  nou- 
velle."    His  notes  to  "L'Homme  Machine"  show  great  knowl- 

«Locke»8  "Essay  Concerning  Human  Understanding/'  Book  II.  Chap. 
XXIII,  I  IS. 

•  Ibid.,  S  31. 

•Condensed  and  translated  from  La  Grande  EncychpSdie,  Vol  26. 

•Translated  from  a  note  of  Assizat  in  "L'homme  machine." 


I 


I 


I 


APPENDIX. 


179 


edge  concerning  physiological  subjects.  He  intended  to  pub- 
lish a  complete  edition  of  Diderot's  works,  but  overwork  on 
this  undermined  his  health,  so  that  he  was  unable  to  complete 
if 

4.  Torricelli  was  a  physicist  and  mathematician  who  lived 
from  1608  to  1647.  He  was  a  disciple  of  Galileo,  and  acted  as 
his  amenuensis  for  three  months  before  Galileo's  death.  He 
was  then  nominated  as  grand-ducal  mathematician  and  pro- 
fessor of  mathematics  in  the  Florentine  Academy.  In  1643, 
he  made  his  most  famous  discovery.  He  found  that  the  height 
to  which  a  liquid  will  rise  in  a  closed  tube,  depends  on  the 
specific  gravity  of  the  liquid,  and  concludes  from  this  that  the 
column  of  liquid  is  sustained  by  atmospheric  pressure.  This 
discovery  did  away  with  the  obscure  idea  of  a  fuga  vacui,  and 
laid  bare  the  principle  on  which  mercurial  barometers  are 
constructed.  For  a  long  time  the  mercurial  thermometer  was 
called  the  "Torricellian  tube,"  and  the  vacuum  which  the 
barometer  includes  is  still  known  as  a  "Torricellian  vacuum."' 

5.  "Only  the  physicians  have  a  right  to  speak  on  this  subject" 
Luzac  says:  "'Tis  true  that  if  the  materiality  of  the  soul  was 
proved,  the  knowledge  of  her  would  be  an  object  of  natural 
philosophy,  and  we  might  with  some  appearance  of  reason 
reject  all  arguments  to  the  contrary  which  are  not  drawn  from 
that  science.  But  if  the  soul  is  not  material,  the  investigation 
of  its  nature  does  not  belong  to  natural  philosophy,  but  to 
those  who  search  into  the  nature  of  its  faculties,  and  are  called 
metaphysicians."' 

rfe.y'JWan  is...  a  machine.*'  This  is  the  first  clear  statement  of 
tbir  theory,  which  as  the  title  of  the  work  indicates,  is  S.ie 
central  doctrine  of  this  work.  Descartes  had  strongly  denied 
the  possibility  of  conceiving  maiTas  a  machine.  "We  may 
easily  conceive  a  machine  to  be  so  constructed  that  it  emits 
vocables,  and  even  that  it  emits  some  correspondent  to  the 
action  upon  it  of  external  objects  which  cause  a  change  in 
its  organs,.... but  not  that  it  should  emit  them  variously  so 

•Condensed  and  translated  from  La  Grande  Encyclopedie,  Vol.  4. 

"*  Condensed  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  9th  ed.,  Vol.  XXIII. 
All  references  are  to  this  edition. 

•"Man  More  than  a  Machine,"  p.  5. 


? 


180 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


\1 


4 


'■J 


as  appositely  to  reply  to  what  is  said  in  its  presence,  as  men 
of  the  lowest  grade  of  intellect  can  do."* 

et  us  then  take  in  our  hands  the  staff  of  experience" 
trie  repeatedly  emphasizes  the  belief  that  knowledge 
muST  come  from  experience.  Moreover  he  confines  this  ex- 
perience to  sense  experience,  and  concludes  "L'histoire  natu- 
relle  de  Tame"  with  these  words:  "No  senses,  no  ideas.  The 
fewer  senses  there  are:  the  fewer  ideas.  No  sensations  ex- 
perienced, no  ideas.  These  principles  are  the  necessary  con- 
sequence of  all  the  observations  and  experiences  that  constitute 
the  unassailable  foundation  of  this  work." 

This  doctrine  is  opposed  to  the  teaching  of  IJcsflyJgs,  who 
insists  that  "neither  our  imagination  nor  our  senses  can  give 
us  assurance  of  anything  unless  our  understanding  inter- 
vene"*" Moreover  Descartes  believes  that  the  senses  are  fal- 
lacious, and  that  the  ideal  method  for  philosophy  is  a  method 
corresponding  to  that  of  mathematics."  Condillac  and  Holbach 
agree  withLa  Mettrie's  opinion.  Thus,  Condillac  teaches  that  man 
is  nothing  more  than  what  he  has  become  by  the  use  of  his 
senses."  And  Holbach  says:  "As  soon  as  we  take  leave  of 
experience,  we  fall  into  the  chasm  where  our  imagination 
leads  us  astray."" 

8.  "Galen  (Galenus)  Claudius,  130  to  circa  210  A.  D.  An 
eminent  Greek  physician  and  philosopher.  Bom  at  Pergamus, 
Mysia,  he  studied  both  the  Platonic  and  Peripatetic  systems 
of  philosophy.  Satyrus  instructed  him  in  anatomy.  He  trav- 
eled extensively  while  young  to  perfect  his  education.  About 
165  A.  D.  he  moved  to  Rome,  and  became  very  celebrated  as 
a  surgeon  and  practising  physician,  attending  the  family  of 
Marcus  Aurelius.  He  returned  to  Pergamus,  but  probably 
visited  Rome  three  or  four  times  afterwards.  He  wrote  in 
philosophy,  logic,  and  medicine.  Many,  probably  most,  of  his 
works  are  lost    He  was  the  one  medical  authority  for  thir- 

•  "Discourse  on  Method,"  Part.  V. 

»  "Discourse  on  Method,"  Part  IV. 

""Meditations,"  II. 

» Traits  des  sensations,"  Part  IV,  Chap.  IX,  |  $• 

>*  "Systime  de  la  nature,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  I. 


! 


APPENDIX. 


181 


teen  centuries,  and  his  services  to  logic  and  to  philosophy 
were  also  great."** 

9.  The  author  of  "LTiistoire  de  I'ame"  is  La  Mettrie  him- 
self. 

III.  " 

10.  Hippocrates  is  often  termed  the  "father  of  medicine."  He 
was  bom  in  Cos  in  460  B.  C.  He  studied  medicine  under  his 
father,  Heraclides,  and  Herodicus  of  Selymbria;  and  philos- 
ophy under  Gorgias  and  Democritus.  He  was  the  first  to  I 
separate  medicine  from  religion  and  from  philosophy.  He  in- 1 
sisted  that  diseases  must  be  treated  by  the  physician,  as  if 
they  were  governed  by  purely  natural  laws.  The  Greeks  had 
such  respect  for  dead  bodies  that  Hippocrates  could  not  have 
dissected  a  human  body,  and  consequently  his  knowledge  of 
its  structure  was  limited,  but  he  seems  to  have  been  an  acute 
and  skilful  observer  of  conditions  in  the  living  body.  He 
wrote  several  works  on  medicine,  and  in  one  of  them  showed 
the  first  principles  on  which  the  public  health  must  be  based. 
The  details  of  his  life  are  hidden  by  tradition,  but  it  is  certain 
that  he  was  regarded  with  great  respect  and  veneration  by  the 
Greeks." 


fQ>T 


[i.\The  different  combinations  of  these  humors "  Com- 

partijhis  with  Descartes's  statement  that  the  difference  in 
men  comes  from  the  difference  in  the  construction  and  posi- 
tion of  the  brain,  which  causes  a  difference  in  the  action  of  the 
animal  spirits." 

12.  "This  drug  intoxicates,  like  wine,  coffee,  etc.,  each  in 
its  own  measure,  and  according  to  the  dose"  Descartes  also 
speaks  of  the  effect  of  wine.  "The  vapors  of  wine,  entering 
the  blood  quickly,  go  from  the  heart  to  the  brain,  where  they 
are  converted  into  spirits,  which  being  stronger  and  more 
abundant  than  usual  are  capable  of  moving  the  body  in  several 
strange  fashions."" 

"Quoted  from  Baldwin's  Dictionary  of  Philosophy  and  Psychology , 
Vol.  I. 

»  Condensed  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  XI. 

"  "Les  passions  de  I'ame,"  Part  I,  Art  XV.  and  Art  XXXIX. 

"Ibid.,  Part  I,  Art.  XV. 


182 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


13.  The  quotation  from  Pope  is  from  the  "Moral  Essays," 
published  1731  to  1735,  Epistle  I,  i,  69. 

14.  Jan  Baptista  Van  Helmont  (1578-1644)  was  a  Flemish 
physician  and  chemist.  He  is  noted  for  having  demonstrated 
the  necessity  of  the  balance  in  chemistry,  and  for  having  been 
among  the  first  to  use  the  word  "gas."  His  works  were  pub- 
lished as  "Ortus  Medicinae,"  1648." 

15.  The  author  of  "Lettres  sur  la  physiognomic"  was  Jacques 
Pernety  or  Pernetti.  He  was  born  at  Chazelle-sur-Lyon,  was 
for  some  years  canon  at  Lyons,  and  died  there  in  1777.' 


ift 


16.  Boerhaave.    See  Note  78. 

17.  Pierre  Louis  Moreau  de  Maupertuis  (1698-1759)  was  a 
French  mathematician,  astronomer  and  philosopher.  He  sup- 
ported the  Newtonian  theory  against  the  Cartesians.  In  1740 
he  became  president  of  the  Academy  of  Berlin.  He  was  the 
head  of  the  expedition  which  was  sent  by  Louis  XV  to  meas- 
ure a  degree  of  longitude  in  Lapland.  Voltaire  satirized  Mau- 
pertuis in  the  "Diatribe  du  Docteur  Akakia."" 

18.  Luzac  sums  up  the  preceding  facts  by  saying:  "Here  are 
a  great  many  facts,  but  what  is  it  they  prove?  only  that  the 
faculties  of  the  soul  arise,  grow,  and  acquire  strength  in  pro- 
portion as  the  body  does;  so  that  these  same  faculties  are 
weakened  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  body  is.... But  from 
all  these  circumstances  it  does  not  follow  that  the  faculty  of 
thinking  is  an  attribute  of  matter,  and  that  all  depends  on  the 
manner  in  which  our  machine  is  made,  that  the  faculties  of  the 
soul  arise  from  a  principle  of  animal  life,  from  an  innate  heat 
or  force,  from  an  irritability  of  the  finest  parts  of  the  body, 
from  a  subtil  ethereal  matter  diffused  through  it,  or  in  a 
word,  from  all  these  things  taken  together."** 

^  19.  '  ii^ diverse  states  of  the  soul  are  therefore  always  cor- 

''Condensed  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  IX. 

»  Transl^d  and  condensed  from  La  Grande  Encyclopidie,  Vol.  a6. 

"Condensed  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  IX. 

""Man  More  than  a  Machine,"  p.  23. 


APPENDIX. 


183 


relative  with  those  of  the  body"    This  view  is  in  diametrical 
opposition  to  the  teaching  of  Descartes,  who  says:  "The  soul 
is_JJl.anaturejvhol^^  of  the  body.""    Yet  Des- 

cartes aIso1tates~thatlhere  is  airrntimatFconnecTion  between 

the  two.     "The  Reasonable   Soul could  by  no  means  be 

educed  from  the  power  of  matter it  must  be  expressly 

created ;  and  it  is  not  sufficient  that  it  be  lodged  in  the  human 
body,  exactly  like  a  pilot  in  a  ship,  unless  perhaps  to  move  its 

members,  but iHs  necessary  for  it  to  bejpin^^  ?nd  !TnitH 

'"orecloselyjojhejjody,  in  order  to  have^ensations  and  appe- 
jites  simTIarto  ours,  and  thus  constitute  a  reaHnan."^ 

HoTbach  later  emphasizes  this  close  connectiofTbetween  body 
and  soul,  which  is  so  insisted  upon  by  La  Mettrie.  "If  freed 
from  our  prejudices  we  wish  to  see  our  soul,  or  the  moving 
principle  which  acts  in  us,  we  shall  remain  convinced  that  it  is 
part  of  our  body,  that  it  can  not  be  distinguished  from  the 
body  except  by  an  abstraction,  that  it  is  but  the  body  itself 
considered  relatively  to  some  of  the  functions  or  faculties  to 
which  its  nature  and  particular  organization  make  it  suscep- 
tible. We  shall  see  that  this  soul  is  forced  to  undergo  the 
same  changes  as  the  body,  that  it  grows  and  develops  with 

the  body Finally  we  can  not  help  recognizing  that  at  some 

periods   it   shows   evident   signs   of  weakness,   sickness,   and 
death."" 

20.  "Peyronie  (Frangois  Gigot  de  la),  a  French  surgeon, 
born  in  Montpellier,  the  fifteenth  of  January,  1678,  died  the 
twenty-fifth  of  April,  1747.  He  was  surgeon  of  the  hospital 
of  Saint-Eloi  de  Montpellier  and  instructor  of  anatomy  to  the 
Faculty;  then,  in  1704,  served  in  the  army.  In  1717  he  became 
reversioner  of  the  position  of  first  surgeon  to  Louis  XV;  in 
1731,  steward  of  the  Queen's  palace;  in  1735,  a  doctor  of  the 
King;  in  1736,  first  surgeon  of  the  King,  and  chief  of  the 
surgeons  of  the  kingdom.  The  greatest  merit  of  La  Peyronie 
is  for  having  founded  the  Academy  of  Surgery  in  Paris,  and 
for  having  gained  special  protection  for  surgery  and  surgeons 
in  France.    He  wrote  little."** 

""Discourse  on  Method,"  V,  last  paragraph. 
"  "Systime  de  la  nature,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  VIL 
■*  Translated  from  La  Grande  Encyclopidie,  Vol.  26. 


\ 


/ 


A 


\ 


J 


'V 


I 


^■■» — 


184 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


21.  'Willis,  Thomas  (1621-1675),  English  physician,  was 
born  at  Great  Bedwin,  Wiltshire,  on  27th  January,  162 1.  He 
studied  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford;  and  when  that  city  was 
garrisoned  for  the  king  he  bore  arms  for  the  Royalists.  He 
took  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  medicine  in  1646,  and  after  the 
surrender  of  the  garrison  applied  himself  to  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  In  1660,  shortly  after  the  Restoration,  he  became 
Sedleian  professor  of  natural  philosophy  in  place  of  Dr.  Joshua 
Cross,  who  was  ejected,  and  the  same  year  he  took  the  degree 

of  doctor  of  physic He  was  one  of  the  first  members  of 

the  Royal  Society,  and  was  elected  an  honorary  fellow  of  the 

Royal  College  of  Physicians  in  1664.    In  1666, he  removed 

to  Westminster,  on  the  invitation  of  Dr.  Sheldon,  Archbishop 

of  Canterbury He  died  at  St.  Martin's  on  nth  November, 

1675,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey."" 

22.  Fontenelle,  Bernard  le  Bovier  de.  Born  at  Rouen,  France, 
February  11,  1657;  died  at  Paris,  January  9,  1757.  A  French 
advocate,  philosopher,  poet,  and  miscellaneous  writer.  He  was 
the  nephew  (through  his  mother)  of  Comeille,  and  was  'one 
of  the  last  of  the  Precieux,  or  rather  the  inventor  of  a  new 
combination  of  literature  and  gallantry  which  at  first  exposed 
him  to  not  a  little  satire'  (Saintsbury).  He  wrote  'Poesies 
pastorales'  (1688),  'Dialogues  des  morts*  (1683),  'Entretiens 
sur  la  pluralite  des  mondes'  (1686),  'Histoire  des  oracles' 
(1687),  'Eloges  des  academiciens'  (delivered  1690-1740)."* 

23.  "In  a  word,  would  it  be  absolutely  impossible  to  teach 
the  ape  a  language  f  I  do  not  think,  so."  Compare  with 
this  Haeckel's  statement  of  the  relation  between  man's  speech 
and  that  of  apes.  "It  is  of  especial  interest  that  the  speech 
of  apes  seems  on  physiological  comparison  to  be  a  stage  in  the 
formation  of  articulate  human  speech.  Among  living  apes 
there  is  an  Indian  species  which  is  musical ;  the  hylobates  syn- 
dactylus  sings  a  full  octave  in  perfectly  pure  harmonious  half- 
tones. No  impartial  philologist  can  hesitate  any  longer  to 
admit  that  our  elaborate  rational  language  has  been  slowly 
and  gradually  developed  out  of  the  imperfect  speech  of  our 
Pliocene  simian  ancestors."" 

"Quoted  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  XXIV. 

*  Quoted  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  IX. 

"  £.  Haeckel,  "The  Riddle  of  the  Universe,"  Chap.  III. 


APPENDIX. 


185 


24-  Johann  Conrad  Amman  was  born  at  Schaflfhausen,  in 
Switzerland,  in  1669.  After  his  graduation  at  Basle,  he  prac- 
tised medicine  at  Amsterdam.  He  devoted  most  of  his  atten- 
tion to  the  instruction  of  deaf  mutes.  He  taught  them  by  at- 
tracting their  attention  to  the  motion  of  his  lips,  tongue,  and 
larynx,  while  he  was  speaking,  and  by  persuading  them  to 
imitate  these  motions.  In  this  way,  they  finally  learned  to 
articulate  syllables  and  words,  and  to  talk.  In  his  works 
"Surdus  Loquens,"  and  "Dissertatio  de  Loquela,"  he  explained 
the  mechanism  of  speech,  and  made  public  his  method  of  in- 
struction. From  all  accounts  it  seems  that  his  success  with 
the  deaf  mutes  was  remarkable.    He  died  about  1730." 

25-  " the  great  analogy  between  ape  and  man " 

Compare  Haeckel:  "Thus  comparative  anatomy  proves  to  the 
satisfaction  of  every  unprejudiced  and  critical  student  the  sig- 
nificant fact  that  the  body  of  man  and  that  of  the  anthropoid 
ape  are  not  only  peculiarly  similar,  but  they  are  practically  one 
and  the  same  in  every  important  respect."* 

26.  Sir  William  Temple  was  born  in  London  in  1628.  He 
attended  the  Puritan  College  of  Emmanuel,  Cambridge,  but 
left  without  taking  his  degree.  After  an  extensive  tour  on 
the  continent,  he  settled  in  Ireland  in  1655.  His  political  career 
began  with  the  accession  of  Charles  II  in  1660.  He  is  par- 
ticularly noted  for  concluding  "The  Triple  Alliance"  between 
England,  the  United  Netherlands,  and  Sweden,  and  for  his 
part  in  bringing  about  the  marriage  of  William  and  Mary, 
which  completed  the  alliance  of  England  and  the  Netherlands. 
Temple  was  not  as  successful  in  political  work  at  home  as 
abroad,  for  he  was  too  honest  to  care  to  be  concerned  in  the 
intrigues  in  English  affairs,  at  that  time.  He  retired  from 
politics  and  died  at  Moor  Park  in  1699. 

Temple  wrote  several  works  on  political  subjects.  His 
Memoirs"  were  begun  in  1682;  the  first  part  was  destroyed 
before  it  was  published,  the  second  part  was  published  without 
his  consent,  and  the  third  part  was  published  by  Swift  after 
Temple's  death.  His  fame  rests  more  on  his  diplomatic  work 
than  on  his  writings.** 

"Condensed  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  I. 

»  "The  Riddle  of  the  Universe,"  Chap.  II. 

"Condensed  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  XXIII. 


« 


/ 


186 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


27.  "Trembley  (Abraham)  a  Swiss  naturalist,  born  in  Ge- 
neva, the  third  of  September,  1700,  died  in  Geneva,  the  twelfth 
of  May,  1784.  He  was  educated  in  his  native  city,  and  in  the 
Hague,  where  he  became  tutor  of  the  son  of  an  English  resi- 
dent, and  later  the  tutor  of  the  young  duke  of  Richmond,  with 
whom  he  traveled  in  Germany  and  Italy.  In  1760,  he  obtained 
the  position  of  librarian  at  Geneva,  and  gained  a  seat  in  the 
council  of  the  Two  Hundred.*  His  admirable  works  on  the 
fresh-water  snake  procured  for  him  his  election  as  member 
of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  and  as  correspondent  of  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  in  Paris.  From  1775  to  1782  he  pub- 
lished several  works  on  natural  religion,  and  articles  on 
natural  history  in  the  'Philosophical  Transactions,'  1742-57- 
His  most  important  work  is  'Memoires  pour  servir  a  Thistoire 
d'un  genre  de  polype  d'eau  douce*  (Leyden,  1744;  Paris,  2 
volumes)."" 

28.  *'What  was  man  before  the  invention  of  words  and  the 
knowledge  of  language?  An  animal."  Compare  this  with  the 
statement  of  Hobbes:  "The  most  noble  and  profitable  inven- 
tion of  all  others  was  that  of  Speech,  consisting  of  names  or 

appellations,  and  their  connexion, without  which  there  had 

been  amongst  men  neither  commonwealth,  nor  society,  nor 
contract,  nor  peace,  no  more  than  amongst  lions,  bears,  and 
wolves.""" 


29.  Fontenelle.    See  note  22. 

30.  "All  the  faculties  of  the  soul  can  he  correctly  reduced  to 
pure  imagination."  Compare  with  this  La  Mettrie's  state- 
ment in  "Uhistoire  naturelle  de  I'ame":  "The  more  one  studies 
all  the  intellectual  faculties,  the  more  convinced  one  remains, 
that  they  are  all  included  in  the  faculty  of  sensation,  upon 
which  they  all  depend  so  essentially  that  without  it  the  soul 
could  never  perform  any  of  its  functions.""  This  resembles 
Condillac*s  doctrine  of  sensation:  "Judgment,  reflexion,  de- 
sires, passions,  etc.,  are  nothing  but  sensation  itself  which  is 

"Translated  from  La  Grande  EncyclopSdU,  Vol.  31 

""Leviathan/'  Part  I,  Chap.  IV. 

•  "L'hiatoire  naturelle  de  I'ame,"  Chap.  XIV.  p.  I99> 


APPENDIX. 


187 


transformed  in  diverse  ways."**    Helvetius  also  says :  "All  the 
operations  of  the  mind  are  reducible  to  sensation."" 

31.  "See  to  what  one  is  brought  by  the  abuse  of  language, 
and  by  the  use  of  those  fine  words  (spirituality,  immateriality, 
etc.)."  Compare  Hobbes,  "Though  men  may  put  together  words 
of  contradictory  signification,  as  spirit  znd  incorporeal;  yet  they 
/^can  never  have  the  imagination  of  anything  answering  to 
them."«* 


32.  "Man's  preeminent  advantage  is  his  organism."  Luzac 
says:  "This  no  more  proves  that  organization  is  the  chief 
merit  of  man,  than  that  the  form  of  a  musical  instrument  con- 
stitutes the  chief  merit  of  the  musician.  In  proportion  to  the 
goodness  of  the  instrument,  the  musician  charms  by  his  art, 
and  the  case  is  the  same  with  the  soul.  In  proportion  to  the 
soundness  of  the  body,  the  soul  is  in  better  condition  to  exert 
her  faculties."" 

33.  "Such  is,  I  think,  the  generation  of  intelligence."  Luzac 
argues  against  this  statement  thus:  "But  if  thought  and  all 
the  faculties  of  the  soul  depended  only  on  the  organization 
as  some  pretend,  how  could  the  imagination  draw  a  long 
chain  of  consequences  from  the  objects  it  has  embraced  ?"*• 

34.  Pyrrhonism  is  "the  doctrine  of  Pyrrho  of  Elis  which  has 
been  transmitted  chiefly  by  his  disciple  Timon.  More  generally, 
radical  Scepticism  in  general."** 

35.  Pierre  Bayle  was  bom  at  Carlat  in  1647.  Although  the 
child  of  Protestant  parents,  he  was  converted  by  the  Jesuits. 
After  his  reconversion  to  Protestantism,  he  was  driven  out 
of  France,  and  took  refuge  first  in  Geneva,  and  then  in  Holland, 
In  1675  ^^  became  professor  of  philosophy  at  the  Protestant 
College  of  Sedan,  and  in   1681  professor  of  philosophy  and 

•*  "Traits  des  sensations,"  p.  50.     Cf.  ibid..  Chap.  XII   (2). 

•""Treatise    on    Man,"    Sect.    II,    Chap.    I,    p.    4.      Cf.    "Essays 
Mind,"  Essay  I,  Chap.  I,  p.  7. 

••  "Leviathan,"  Part  I,  Chap.  XII. 

•*"Man  More  than  a  Machine,"  p.  25. 

'^  Ibid.,  p.  26. 

••Quoted  from  Baldwin's  Dictionary  of  Philosophy,  Vol.  II. 


\ 


on 


"^m"       I 


188 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


history  at  Rotterdam.    In  1693  he  was  forced  to  resign  from 
his  position  on  account  of  his  religious  views. 

Bayle  was  one  of  the  leading  French  sceptics  of  the  time. 
He  was  a  Cartesian,  but  questioned  both  the  certainty  of 
one's  own  existence,  and  the  knowledge  derived  from  it.  He 
Mdeclared  that  religion  is  contrary  to  the  human  reason,  but 
that  this  fact  does  not  necessarily  destroy  faith.  He  distin- 
guished religion  not  only  from  science,  but  also  from  morality, 
and  vigorously  opposed  those  who  considered  a  certain  religion 
necessary  for  morality.  He  did  not  openly  attack  Christianity, 
yet  all  that  he  wrote  awakened  doubt,  and  his  work  exerted 
an  extensive  influence  for  scepticism. 

His  principal  work  is  the  "Dictionnaire  historique  et  cri- 
tique," published  1695- 1697,  and  containing  a  vast  amount 
of  knowledge,  expressed  in  a  piquant  and  popular  style.  This 
fact  made  the  book  widely  read  both  by  scholars  and  by  super- 
ficial readers. 

36.  Amobius  the  Elder  was  bom  at  Sicca  Venerea  in  Nu- 
midia,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  third  century  A.  D.  He  was  at 
first  an  opponent  of  Christianity,  but  was  afterwards  converted, 
and  wrote  "Adversus  Gentes"  as  an  apology  for  Christianity. 
In  this  work,  he  tries  to  answer  the  complaints  made  against 
Christians  on  the  ground  that' the  disasters  of  the  time  were 
due  to  their  impiety;  vindicates  the  divinity  of  Christ;  and 
discusses  the  nature  of  the  human  soul.  He  concludes  that  the 
soul  is  not  immortal,  for  he  believes  that  the  belief  in  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  would  have  a  deteriorating  influence 
on  morality.  For  translation  of  his  work  compare  Vol.  XIX 
of  the  "Ante-Nicene  Christian  Library."*® 

37.  "There  exists  no  soul  or  sensitive  substance  without  rC' 
morse"  Condillac  had  said:  "There  is  something  in  animals 
besides  motion.  They  are  not  pure  machines :  they  feel."**  La 
Mettrie  also  attributed  remorse  to  animals,  but  believed  that 
they  are  none  the  less  machines.  Luzac  said  in  comment: 
"What  renders  these  systems  completely  ridiculous,  is,  that 
the  persons  who  pronounce  men  machines,  give  them  prop- 
erties which  belie  their  assertion.  If  beings  are  but  machines, 
why  do  they  grant  a  natural  law,  an  internal  sense,  a  kind 

*•  Condensed  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  II. 
<^  "Traits  des  animaux,"  Chap.  I,  p.  454* 


4  ! 


APPENDIX. 


189 


of  dread?  These  are  ideas  which  can  not  be  excited  by  ob- 
jects which  operate  on  our  senses."**  '^ 

38.  "Nature  has  created  us  solely  to  be  happy**  This  is  a 
statement  of  the  doctrine,  which  La  Mettrie  developes  in  his 
principal  ethical  work  "Discours  sur  le  Bonheur."  He  teaches^ 
that  happiness  rests  upon  bodily  pleasure  and  pain.  In  "L'his- 
toire  naturelle  de  Tame,"  La  Mettrie  states  that  all  the  pas- 
sions can  be  developed  from  two  fundamental  passions,  of 
which  they  are  but  modifications,  love  and  hatred,  or  desire 
and  aversion.**  Like  La  Mettrie,  Helvetius  makes  corporeal 
pleasure  and  pain  the  ruling  motives  for  man's  conduct.  Thus 
he  writes:  "Pleasure  and  pain  are  and  always  will  be  the  only 

principles  of  action  in  man."** "Remorse  is  nothing  more 

than  a  foresight  of  bodily  pain  to  which  some  crime  has  ex-/ 
posed  us."*"    He  definitely  makes  happiness  the  end  of  human 
action.    "The  end  of  man  is  self-preservation  and  the  attain- 
ment of  a  happy  existence Man,  to  find  happiness,  should 

save  up  his  pleasures,  and  refuse  all  those  which  might  change 

into  pains The  passions  always  have  happiness  as  an  object: 

they  are  legitimate  and  natural,  and  can  not  be  called  good 
or  bad  except  on  account  of  their  influence  on  human  beings. 
To  lead  men  to  virtue,  we  must  show  them  the  advantages  of 
virtuous  actions."*"  Holbach,  finally,  goes  further  than  La 
Mettrie  or  Helvetius,  and  makes  purely  mechanical  impulses 
the  motives  of  man's  action.  "The  passions  are  ways  of 
being  or  modifications  of  the  internal  organs,  attracted  or 
repulsed  by  objects,  and  are  consequently  subject  in  their 
own  way  to  the  physical  laws  of  attraction  and  repulsion."**   ^ 

39.  "Ixions  of  Christianity."  Ixion,  for  his  treachery,  stricken 
with  madness,  was  cast  into  Erebus,  where  he  was  continually 
scourged  while  bound  to  a  fiery  wheel,  and  forced  to  cry: 
"Benefactors  should  be  honored." 

40.  "Who  can  be  sure  that  the  reason  for  man's  existence 

**"Man  More  than  a  Machine,"  p.  65. 

« "L'histoire  naturelle  de  I'ame,"  Chap.  X,  S  XII. 

*•  "Treatise  on  Man,"  Chap.  X. 

^Ihid.,  Chap.  VII. 

*•  "Le  vrai  sens  du  systeme  de  la  nature,"  Chap.  IX. 

«7Wi.,  Vol.  I.  Chap.  VIII,  p.  140. 


*-i 


<: 


J 


\ 


190 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


M  not  simply  the  fact  that  he  exists?"  Luzac  opposes  this 
by  saying :  "If  the  reason  of  man's  existence  was  in  man  him- 
self, this  existence  would  be  a  necessary  consequence  of  his 
own  nature;  so  that  his  own  nature  would  contain  the  cause 
or  reason  of  his  existence.  Now  since  his  own  nature  would 
imply  the  cause  of  his  existence,  it  would  also  imply  his 
existence  itself,  so  that  man  could  no  more  be  considered  as 
non-existent  than  a  circle  can  be  considered  without  radii  or 

a  picture  without  features  or  proportions If  the  existence 

of  man  was  in  man  himself,  he  would  then  be  an  invariable 
being."** 

41.  "Fenelon  (Francois  de  Salignac  de  la  Mothe-Fenelon), 
bom  at  Chateau  de  Fenelon,  Dordogne,  France,  August  6, 
1651,  died  at  Cambrai,  France,  January  7,  1715.  A  celebrated 
French  prelate,  orator,  and  author.  He  became  preceptor  of 
the  sons  of  the  dauphin  in  1689,  and  was  appointed  archbishop 
of  Cambrai  in  1695.  His  works  include  'Les  aventures  de 
Telemaque*  (1699),  'Dialogues  des  morts'  (1712),,  Traite  de 
I'education  des  filles'  (1688),  'Explication  des  maximes  des 
saints'  (1697),  etc.  His  collected  works  were  edited  by  Le- 
clere  (38  vols.,  1827-1830).' 


M4» 


42.  "Nieuwentyt  (Bernard),  a  Dutch  mathematician,  bom 
in  Westgraafdak  the  tenth  of  August  1654,  diet  at  Purmerend 
the  thirtieth  of  May,  1718.  An  unrelenting  Cartesian,  he 
combated  the  infinitesimal  calculus,  and  wrote  a  polemic 
against  Leibnitz,  concerning  this  subject.  He  wrote  a  theo- 
logical dissertation  translated  into  French  under  the  title 
"L'existence  de  Dieu  demontree  par  les  merveilles  de  la 
nature'  (Paris,  1725).'"* 

43.  "Abadie,  James  (Jacques),  bom  at  Nay,  Basse-Pyre- 
nees, probably  in  1654;  died  at  London,  September  25,  1725. 
A  noted  French  Protestant  theologian.  He  went  to  Berlin 
about  1680  as  minister  of  the  French  church  there,  and  thence 
to  England  and  Ireland;  was  for  a  time  minister  of  the  French 
church  in  the  Savoy;  and  settled  in  Ireland  as  dean  of  Killaloe 
in  1699.    His  chief  work  is  the  Traite  de  la  verite  de  la  reli- 

«"Man  More  than  a  Machine,"  pp.  71  and  72. 
•Quoted  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  IX. 
"  Translated  from  La  Grand*  Encyclopidie,  Vol.  34. 


APPENDIX. 


191 


gion  chretienne'  (1684),  with  its  continuation  Traite  de  la 
divinite  de  notre  Seigneur  Jesus-Christ'  (1689)."" 

44.  "Derham  (William),  English  theologian  and  scholar, 
born  in  Stoughton,  near  Worcester,  in  1657,  died  at  Upminster 
in  1735.  Pastor  of  Upminster  in  the  county  of  Essex,  he 
could  peacefully  devote  himself  to  his  taste  for  mechanics  and 
natural  history.  Besides  making  studies  of  watch-making,  and 
of  fish,  birds,  and  insects,  published  in  part  in  the  Transactions 
of  the  Royal  Society,  he  wrote  several  works  on  religious 
philosophy.  The  most  important,  which  was  popular  for  a  long 
time  and  was  translated  into  French  (1726),  has  as  title 
'Physico-Theology,  or  the  Demonstration  of  the  Existence  and 
the  Attributes  of  God,  by  the  Works  of  His  Creation'  (1713). 
He  wrote  as  complement,  in  1714,  his  'Astro-Theology,  or  the 
Demonstration  of  the  Existence  and  Attributes  of  God  by 
the  Observation  of  the  Heavens.' "" 

45.  Rais,  or  Cardinal  de  Retz  (1614-1679),  was  a  French 
politician  and  author.  From  his  childhood  he  was  intended 
for  the  church.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  movement 
against  Cardinal  Mazarin,  and  later  became  cardinal,  but  lost 
his  popularity,  and  was  imprisoned  at  Vincennes.  After  es- 
caping from  there  he  returned  to  France  and  settled  in  Lor- 
raine, where  he  wrote  his  'Memoires,'  which  tell  of  the  court 
life  of  his  time." 

46.  Marcello  Malpighi  (1628-1694)  was  a  renowned  Italian 
anatomist  and  physiologist.  He  held  the  position  of  lecturer 
on  medicine  at  Bologna  in  1656,  a  few  months  later  became 
professor  at  Pisa,  was  made  professor  at  Bologna  in  1660, 
went  from  there  to  Messina,  though  he  later  returned  to  Bo- 
logna. In  1691  he  became  physician  to  Pope  Innocent  XH. 
Malpighi  is  often  known  as  the  founder  of  microscopic  anat- 
omy. He  was  the  first  to  see  the  marvelous  spectacle  of  the 
circulation  of  the  blood  on  the  surface  of  a  frog's  lung.  He 
discovered  the  vesicular  structure  of  the  human  lung,  the 
structure  of  the  secreting  glands,  and  the  mucous  character 

"Quoted  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  IX. 
"Translated  from  La  Grande  Encyclopedie,  Vol.  14 
"Condensed  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  X. 


/ 


192 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


of  the  lower  stratum  of  the  epidermis.  He  was  the  first  to 
undertake  the  finer  anatomy  of  the  braifl,  and  he  accurately 
described  the  distribution  of  grey  matter,  and  of  the  fibre 
tracts  in  the  cord  His  works  are:  "De  pulmonibus  (Bologna, 
1661),  "Epistolae  anatomicae  narc.  Malpighi  et  Car.  Fracas- 
sati"  (Amsterdam,  1662),  "De  Viscerum  Structura"  (London, 
1669),  "Anatome  Plantarum"  (London,  1672),  "De  Structura 
Glandularum  conglobatarum"   (London,  1689).** 

47.  Deism  is  a  system  of  thought  which  arose  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Its  most  important  represen- 
tatives in  England  were  Toland,  Collins,  Chubb,  Shaftsbury, 
and  Tindal.  They  insisted  on  freedom  of  thought  and  speech, 
and  claimed  that  reason  is  superior  to  any  authority.  They 
denied  the  necessity  of  any  supernatural  revelation,  and  were 
consequently  vigorously  opposed  by  the  church.  Partly  be- 
cause of  this  opposition  by  the  church,  many  of  them  argued 
against  Christianity,  and  tried  to  show  that  an  observance  of 
moral  laws  is  the  only  religion  necessary  for  man.  They 
taught  that  happiness  is  man's  chief  end,  and  that,  since  man  is 
a  social  being,  his  happiness  can  best  be  gained  by  mutual 
helpfulness.  Although  they  declared  that  nature  is  the  work 
of  a  perfect  being,  they  had  a  mechanical  conception  of  the 
relation  of  CJod  to  the  worid,  and  did  not,  like  later  theists, 
find  evidence  of  God's  presence  in  all  the  works  of  nature." 


48.  "Vanini,  Lucilio,  self-styled  Julius  Csesar.  Bom  at  Tau- 
risano,  kingdom  of  Naples,  about  1585 ;  burned  at  the  stake  at 
Toulouse,  France,  February  19,  1619.  An  Italian  free  thinker, 
condemned  to  death  as  an  atheist  and  magician.  He  studied 
at  Rome  and  Padua,  became  a  priest,  traveled  in  Germany 
and  the  Netheriands,  and  began  teaching  at  Lyons,  but  was 
obliged  to  flee  to  England,  where  he  was  arrested.  After  his 
release  he  returned  to  Lyons,  and  about  1617  settled  at  Tou- 
louse. Here  he  was  arrested  for  his  opinions,  condemned, 
and  on  the  same  day  executed.  His  chief  works  are:  *Amphi- 
theatrum  aetemae  Providentiae'  (1615),  *De  admirandis  na- 
turae reginae  deaeque  mortalium  arcanis*  (i6i6).'"* 

■*  Condensed  from  the  Encyclopaedia  BrUannica,  Vol.  XV. 

«Cf.  A.  W.  Benn,  "History  of  English  Rationalism,"  Vol.  I,  Chap. 

MI.  .    ^ 

••Quoted  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  X. 


APPENDIX. 


193 


49.  Desbarreaux  (Jacques  Vallee).  A  French  writer,  bom 
at  Paris  in  1602,  who  died  at  Chalon-sur-Saone  the  ninth  of 
May,  1673.  He  wrote  a  celebrated  sonnet  on  penitence,  but 
was  rather  an  unbeliever  and  sceptic  than  a  penitent  Guy 
Patin,  hearing  of  his  death,  said:  "He  infected  poor  young 
people  by  his  licence.  His  conversation  was  very  dangerous 
and  destructive  to  the  public."" 

50.  Boindin  (Nicolas),  French  scholar  and  author,  bom  the 
twenty-ninth  of  May  1676  at  Paris,  where  he  died  the  thirtieth 
of  November  1751.  He  was  in  the  army  for  a  while,  but  re- 
tired on  account  of  ill  health.  He  then  gave  himself  up  to 
literature,  and  wrote  several  plays.  In  1706  he  was  elected 
Royal  censor  and  associate  of  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions. 
His  liberty,  or,  as  it  was  then  called,  license  of  mind,  shut  the 
doors  of  the  French  Academy  to  him,  and  would  have  caused 
his  expulsion  from  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions  if  he  had 
not  been  so  old.    He  died  without  retracting  his  opinions.' 


68 


51.  Denis  Diderot  (1713-1784)  was  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  intellectual  movement  of  the  eighteenth  century.  He  was 
at  first  influenced  by  Shaftsbury,  and  was  enthusiastic  in  his 
support  of  natural  religion.  In  his  "Pensees  philosophiques" 
(1746)  he  tries  to  show  that  the  discoveries  of  natural  science 
are  the  strongest  proofs  for  the  existence  of  God.  The  won- 
ders of  animal  life  are  enough  to  destroy  atheism  "for  ever. 
Yet,  while  he  opposes  atheism,  he  also  opposes  vigorously  the 
intolerance  and  bigotry  of  the  church.  He  claims  that  many 
of  the  attributes  ascribed  to  God  are  contrary  to  the  very  idea 
of  a  just  and  loving  God. 

Later,  Diderot  was  influenced  by  La  Mettrie  and  by  Hol- 
bach,  and  became  an  advocate  of  materialism  which  he  set 
forth  in  "Le  reve  d'Alembert"  and  in  the  passages  contributed 
to  the  "Systeme  de  la  nature."  Diderot  was  the  editor  of 
the  "Encyclopedic."" 

52.  Trembley.    See  note  27. 

"Translated  and  condensed  from  La  Grande  Encyclopedie,  Vol.  14. 
••Translated  and  condensed  from  La  Grande  Encyclopedie,  Vol.  7. 

■•Condensed  from  F.  A.  Lange,  "History  of  Materialism,"  Vol.  II, 
Chap.  I,  and  from  W.  Windelband,  "History  of  Philosophy,"  Part  V, 
Chap.  I. 


\i 


194 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


53.  "Nothing  which  happens,  could  have  failed  to  happen,** 
An  enunciation  of  the  doctrine  so  insisted  upon  by  Holbach. 
"The  whole  universe shows  us  only  an  immense  and  un- 
interrupted chain  of  cause  and  effect."** "Necessity  which 

regulates  all  the  movements  of  the  physical  world,  controls 
also  those  of  the  moral  world."" 

54.  "All  these  evidences  of  a  creator,  repeated  thousands. .  .of 
times  ...are  self-evident  only  to  the  anti-Pyrrhonians."  La  Met- 
trie  holds  an  opinion  contrary  not  only  to  that  of  Descartes 
and  Locke,  but  also  to  that  of  Toland,  Hobbes,  and  Condillac. 
Descartes,  for  instance,  says :  "Thus  I  very  clearly  see  that  the 
certitude  and  truth  of  all  science  depends  on  the  knowledge 
alone  of  the  true  God.""  Hobbes  asserts :  "For  he  that  from 
any  effect  he  seeth  come  to  pass  should  reason  to  the  next  and 
immediate  cause  thereof,  and  from  thence  to  the  cause  of  that 

cause, shall  at  last  come  to  this,  that  there  must  be,  as 

even  the  heathen  philosophers  confessed,  one  first  mover,  that 
is  a  first  and  an  eternal  cause  of  all  things,  which  is  that 
which  men  mean  by  the  name  of  God.""  Toland's  words  are : 
"All  the  jumbling  of  atoms,  all  the  Chances  you  can  suppose 
for  it,  could  not  bring  the  Parts  of  the  Universe  into  their 
present  Order,  nor  continue  them  in  the  same,  nor  cause  the 

Organization  of  a  Flower  or  a  Fly The  Infinity  of  Matter 

....excludes an  extended  corporeal  God,  but  not  a  pure 

Spirit  or  immaterial  Being."**  Condillac  writes :  "A  first  cause, 
independent,  unique,  infinite,  eternal,  omnipotent,  immutable, 
intelligent,  free,  and  whose  providence  extends  over  all  things : 
that  is  the  most  perfect  notion  of  God  that  we  can  form  in 
this  life."*  Locke  declares:  "From  what  has  been  said  it  is 
plain  to  me  we  have  a  more  certain  knowledge  of  the  existence 
of  a  God  than  of  anything  our  senses  have  not  immediately 
discovered  to  us.  Nay  I  presume  I  may  say,  that  we  more 
certainly  know  that  there  is  a  God,  than  that  there  is  anything 
else  without  us."** 

••"Syst^mc  de  la  nature,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  I,  p.  12. 

«/6»d..  Vol.  II.  Chap.  XI,.     Cf.  Vol.  I,  Chap.  VIL 

""Meditations,"  III  and  V. 

•"Leviathan,"  Part  I,  Chap.  XII. 

•"Letters  to  Serena,"  V,  p.  235. 

•"Traiti  des  animaux,"  Chap.  VI,  p.  585. 

•"Essay  Concerning  Human  Understanding,"  Book  IV,  Chap.  X. 


APPENDIX. 


195 


SS.  'Tucretius  (Titus  Lucretius  Cams).  Bom  at  Rome, 
probably  about  96  B.  C,  died  October  15, 55  B.  C  A  celebrated 
Roman  philosophical  poet.  He  was  the  author  of  *De  rerum 
natura,'  a  didactic  and  philosophical  poem  in  six  books,  treat- 
ing of  physics,  of  psychology,  and  (briefly)  of  ethics  from  the 
Epicurean  point  of  view.  He  committed  suicide  probably  in  a 
fit  of  insanity.  According  to  a  popular  but  doubtless  erroneous 
tradition,  his  madness  was  due  to  a  love-phiUer  administered 
to  him  by  his  wife.' 


t>n 


56.  "Lamy  (Bernard)  was  born  in  Mans  in  the  year  1640. 
He  studied  first  in  the  college  of  this  city.  He  later  went  to 
Paris,  and  at  Saumar  studied  philosophy  under  Charles  de  la 
Fontenelle,  and  theology  under  Andre  Martin  and  Jean  Le- 
porc.  He  was  at  length  called  to  teach  philosophy  in  the  city 
of  Angers.  He  wrote  a  great  many  books  on  theological  sub- 
jects. His  philosophical  works  are:  *L'art  de  parler'  (1675), 
Traite  de  mechanique,  de  I'equilibre,  des  solides  et  des  li- 
queurs* (1679),  Traite  de  la  grandeur  en  general'  (1680), 
'Entretiens  sur  les  sciences'  (1684),  'Elements  de  geometrie/ 
(1685)."" 

57.  "The  eye  sees  only  because  it  is  formed  and  placed  as  it 
is."  La  Mettrie  doubts  whether  there  is  any  purpose  in  the 
world.  Condillac,  on  the  other  hand,  teaches  that  purpose  and 
intelligence  are  shown  forth  in  the  universe.  "Can  we  see  the 
order  of  the  parts  of  the  universe,  the  subordination  among 
them,  and  notice  how  so  many  different  things  compose  such 
a  permanent  whole,  and  remain  convinced  that  the  cause  of 
the  universe  is  a  principle  without  any  knowledge  of  its  effects, 
which  without  purpose,  without  intelligence,  relates  each  being 
to  particular  ends,  subordinated  to  a  general  end?"" 

58.  "Non  nostrum  inter  vos  tantas  componere  lites."  Vergil, 
Eclogue  III,  line  108. 

59.  "The  universe  will  never  he  happy  unless  it  is  atheistic." 
Although  La  Mettrie  calls  this  a  "strange  opinion"  it  is  clear 

«  Quoted  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  IX. 

•Translated  and  condensed  from  the  Dictionnatre  des  Sciences  phiiO' 
sophtques.  Vol.  Ill,  Paris,  1847. 

•  "Trait*  des  animaux,"  Chap.  VI. 


'^v 


Vi 


t\ 


I 


\ 


( 


196 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


that  he  secretly  sympathizes  with  it.  Holbach  afltois  this  doc- 
trine very  emphatically.  "Experience  teaches  us  that  sacred  opin- 
ions were  the  real  source  of  the  evils  of  human  beings.  Ig- 
norance of  natural  causes  created  gods  for  them.  Imposture 
made  these  gods  terrible.    This  idea  hindered  the  progress  of 

reason."^     "An  atheist is  a  man  who  destroys  chimeras 

harmful  to  the  human  race,  in  order  to  lead  men  back  to 
nature,  to  experience,  and  to  reason,  which  has  no  need  of 
rfl«Qurse  to  ideal  powers,  to  explain  the  operations  of  nature. 


>m 


^he  soul  is  therefore  but  an  empty  word"  Contrast 
tl!(k  wiAi  Descartes's  statement:  "And  certainly  the  ide*  I 
hsiVe^OT  th^^ffliman  mind.... is  incomparably  more  distinct 
.  than  the  idea  of  any  corporeal  object.*'"  Compare  this  doc- 
trine, also,  with  Holbach's  assertion:  "Those  who  have  dis- 
tinguished the  soul  from  the  body  seem  to  have  only  distin- 
guished their  brains  from  themselves.  Truly  the  brain  is  the 
common  center,  where  all  the  nerves  spread  in  all  parts  of 
the  human  body,  terminate  and  join  together. . .  .The  more 
experience  we  have,  the  more  we  are  convinced  that  the  word 
'spirit'  has  no  meaning  even  to  those  who  have  invented  it, 
and  can  be  of  no  use  either  in  the  physical  or  in  the  moral 
world."" 

6i.  William  Cowper  (1666-1709)  was  an  English  anatomist 
He  was  drawn  into  a  controversy  with  Bidloo,  the  Dutch 
physician,  by  publishing  under  his  own  name  Bidloo's  work 
on  the  anatomy  of  human  bodies.  His  principal  works  are: 
"Myotamia  reformata"  (London,  1694)  and  "Glandularum  de- 
scriptio"  (1702)." 

62.  William  Harvey  (1578-1657),  an  English  physician  and 
physiologist,  is  renowned  for  his  discovery  of  the  circulation 
of  the  blood.  He  was  educated  at  Canterbury  and  Cambridge, 
and  took  his  doctor's  degree  at  Cambridge  in  1602.    During 

^  Systimc  dc  la  nature,"  Vol.  II,  Chap.  XVI,  p.  451. 

»  JWi..  Chap.  XXVI,  p.  485.  Cf.  Luzac's  criticism  in  "Man  More  than  a 
Machine,     p.  94. 

""Meditations,"  IV. 

"  "Systcme  dc  la  nature,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  VII,  pp.  121-iaa. 

*•  Condensed  and  trantlated  from  La  Grande  Encyclopidii,  Vol.  13. 


APPENDIX. 


197 


his  life  he  held  the  position  of  Lumleian  lecturer  at  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians,  and  of  physician  extraordinary  to  James  I. 
His  principal  works  are:  "Exercitatio  de  motu  cordis  et 
sanguinis"  (1628),  and  "Exercitationes  de  generatione  anima- 
hum"  (1651)." 

6^.  Francis  Bacon  (1551-1626)  was  one  of  the  first  to  re- 
volt against  scholasticism  and  to  introduce  a  new  method  into 
science  and  philosophy.  He  claimed  that  to  know  reahty,  and 
consequently  to  gain  new  power  over  reality,  man  must  stop 
studying  conceptions,  and  study  matter  itself.  Yet  he  did 
not  himself  know  how  to  gain  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of 
nature,  so  that  he  could  not  put  into  practice  the  method 
which  he  himself  advocated.  His  works  are  full  of  scholastic 
conceptions,  though  many  of  the  implications  of  his  system 
are  materialistic.  Lange  claims,^'  indeed,  that  if  Bacon  had 
been  more  consistent  and  daring,  he  would  have  reached 
strictly  materialistic  conclusions.  The  account  of  the  motion 
of  the  heart  of  the  dead  convict  is  found  in  "Sylva  Sylvarum."" 
This  book,  published  in  1627,  a  year  after  Bacon's  death,  con- 
tains the  account  of  Bacon's  experiments,  and  of  his  theories 
in  matters  of  physiology,  physics,  chemistry,  medicine,  and 
psychology. 

64.  Robert  Boyle,  one  of  the  greatest  natural  philosophers 
of  his  age,  studied  at  Eton  for  three  years,  and  then  became 
the  private  pupil  of  the  rector  of  Stalbridge.  He  traveled 
through  France,  Switzerland,  and  Italy,  and  while  at  Florence, 
studied  the  work  of  Galileo.  He  decided  to  devote  his  life 
to  scientific  work,  and  in  1645  became  a  member  of  a  society 
of  scientific  men,  which  later  grew  into  the  Royal  Society  of 
London.  His  principal  work  was  the  improvement  of  the  air- 
pump,  and  by  that  the  discovery  of  the  laws  governing  the 
pressure  and  volume  of  gases. 

Boyle  was  also  deeply  interested  in  theology.  He  gave  lib- 
erally for  the  work  of  spreading  C:hristianity  in  India  and 
America,  and  by  his  will  endowed  the  "Boyle  Lectures"  to 

"Condensed  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  IX. 

"  F.  A.  Lange,  "History  of  Materialism,"  Vol.  I,  Sec.  II,  Chap.  III. 

""Sylva    Sylvanim   sive   Historia   Naturalis   Latio   Transcripta   a   1. 
Gruteo.     Lug.  Batavos,  1648.    Cf.  Bk.  IV.  Experiment  400.      *^  '' 


198 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


demonstrate  the   Christian   religion   against   atheists,  theists, 
pagans,  Jews,  and  Mohammedans.'* 

65.  Nicolas  Stenon  was  born  at  Copenhagen,  163 1,  and  died 
at  Schwerin  in  1687.  He  studied  at  Leyden  and  Paris,  and 
then  settled  in  Florence,  where  he  became  the  physician  of  the 
grand  duke.  In  1672  he  became  professor  of  anatomy  at 
Florence,  but  three  years  later  he  gave  up  this  posiiton  and 
entered  the  church.  In  1677  he  was  made  Bishop  of  Heliopolis 
and  went  to  Hanover,  then  to  Munster,  and  finally  to  Schwerin. 
His  principal  work  is  the  "Discours  sur  I'anatomie  du  cer- 
veau"  (Paris,  1669)." 

66.  La  Mettrie's  account  of  involuntary  movements  is  much 
like  that  of  Descartes.  Descartes  says:  "If  any  one  quickly 
passes  his  hand  before  our  eyes  as  if  to  strike  us,  we  shut 
our  eyes,  because  the  machinery  of  our  body  is  so  composed 
that  the  movement  of  this  hand  towards  our  eyes  excites  an- 
other movement  in  the  brain,  which  controls  the  animal  spirits 
in  the  muscles  that  close  the  eyelids."** 

67.  "The  brain  has  its  muscles  for  thinking,  as  the  legs  have 
muscles  for  walking/'  Neither  Condillac  nor  Helvetius  go 
so  far.  Helvetius  explicitly  states  that  it  is  an  open  question 
whether  sensation  is  due  to  a  material  or  to  a  spiritual  sub- 
stance.* 

68.  Giovanni  Alfonso  Borelli  (1608-1679)  was  the  head  of 
the  so-called  iatro-mathematical  sect.  He  tried  to  apply  mathe- 
matics to  medicine  in  the  same  way  in  which  it  had  been 
applied  to  the  physical  sciences.  He  was  wise  enough  to 
restrict  the  application  of  his  system  to  the  motion  of  the 
muscles,  but  his  followers  tried  to  extend  its  application  and 
were  led  into  many  absurd  conjectures.  Borelli  was  at  first 
professor  of  mathematics  at  Pisa,  and  later  professor  of  medi- 
cine at  Florence.  He  was  connected  with  the  revolt  of  Mes- 
sina and  was  obliged  to  leave  Florence.    He  retired  to  Rome, 

*•  Condensed  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  IV. 

*•  Translated  and  condensed  from  La  Grand*  Encyclopidie,  Vol.  30. 

»  "Les  passions  de  I'ame,"  Part  I,  Art.  13. 

« "Essays  on  the  Mind/'  Essay  I,  Chap.  I,  pp.  4^. 


APPENDIX. 


199 


where  he  was  under  the  protection  of  Christina,  Queen  of 
Sweden,  and  remained  there  until  his  death  in  1679."* 

|"For  one  order  that  the  will  gives,  it  bows  a  hundred 
jto  the  yoke."    Descartes,  on  the  other  hand,  teaches  that 
tht^oul  has   direct  control  over  its  voluntary  actions   and 
thoughts,  and  indirect  control  over  its  passions.**    La  Mettrie 
goes  further  than  to  limit  the  extent  of  the  will,  and  questions 
whether  it  is  ever  free :  "The  sensations  which  affect  us  de- 
cide the  soul  either  to  will  or  not  to  will,  to  love  or  to  hate 
these  sensations  according  to  the  pleasure  or  the  pain  which 
they  cause  in  us.    This  state  of  the  soul  thus  determined  by 
its  sensations  is  called  the  will.""     Holbach  insists  on  this 
point  and  contends  that  all  freedom  is  a  delusion:  "[Man's] 
birth  depends  on  causes  entirely  outside  of  his  power;  it  is 
without  his  permission  that  he  enters  this  system  where  he 
has  a  place;  and  without  his  consent  that,  from  the  moment 
of  his  birth  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  is  continually  modified 
by  causes  that  influence  his  machine  in  spite  of  his  will,  modify 
his  being,  and  alter  his  conduct.     Is  not  the  least  reflexion 
enough  to  prove  that  the  solids  and  fluids  of  which  the  body 
is  composed,  and  that  the  hidden  mechanism  that  he  considers 
independent  of  external  causes,  are  perpetually  under  the  in- 
fluence of  these  causes,  and  could  not  act  without  them?  Does 
he  not  see  that  his  temperament  does  not  depend  on  himself, 
that  his  passions  are  the  necessary  consequences  of  his  tem- 
perament, that  his  will  and  his  actions  are  determined  by  these 
same  passions,  and  by  ideas  that  he  has  not  given  to  himself.? 
....In  a  word,  everything  should  convince  man  that  during 
every  moment  of  his  life,  he  is  but  a  passive  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  necessity."" 


) 


\7o.  The 


NL..  ^  ^^^^^y  oi  animal  spirits,  held  by  Galen  and  elab- 
oratetHjy  Descart§§^  that  the  nerves  are  hollow  tubes  con- 
taining a  v^Hatile  liquid,  the  animal  spirits.  The  animal  spirits 
were  supposed  to  circulate  from  the  periphery  to  the  brain 

"  Condensed  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  IV. 
"  "Les  passions  de  I'ame,"  Part  I,  Art.  41. 
p-le'r^*"'*"**'^  naturelle  de  I'ame,"  Chap.  XII,  p.  164.    Cf.  Chap.  XII. 
«  "Systime  de  la  nature,"  Vol.  I,  Chap.  VI,  pp.  B9S, 


200 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


and  back  again,  and  to  perform  by  their  action  all  the  func- 
tions of  the  nerves. 

71.  Berkeley  uses  the  fact  that  the  color  of  objects  varies, 
as  one  argument  for  his  idealistic  conclusion." 

72.  It  is  hard  to  tell  what  Pythagoras  himself  taught,  but  it 
is  certain  that  he  taught  the  kinship  of  animals  and  men,  and 
upon  this  kinship  his  rule  for  the  abstinence  from  flesh  was 
probably  based.  Among  the  writings  of  the  later  Pythagoreans 
we  find  strange  rules  for  diet  which  are  plainly  genuine 
taboos.  For  example  they  are  commanded  "to  abstain  from 
beans,  not  to  break  bread,  not  to  eat  from  a  whole  loaf,  not 
to  eat  the  heart,  etc"" 

71.  Plato  forbade  the  use  of  wine  in  his  ideal  republic." 

74-  "Nature's  first  care,  when  the  chyle  enters  the  blood,  is 
to  excite  tn  it  a  kind  of  fever."  Thus,  warmth  is  the  first 
necessity  for  the  body.  Compare  with  this,  Descartes's  state- 
ment: "There  is  a  continual  warmth  in  our  heart,. ..  .this  fire 
is  the  bodily  principle  of  all  the  movements  of  our  members."* 
This  is  one  of  the  many  instances  in  which  La  Mettrie's  ac- 
count of  the  mechanism  of  the  body  is  similar  to  that  of 
Descartes. 

75.  "Stahl  (George  Ernst),  bom  at  Ansbach,  Bavaria,  Oc- 
tober 21,  1660;  died  at  Berlin,  May  14,  1734.  A  noted  German 
chemist,  physician  of  the  King  of  Prussia  from  1716.  His 
works  include:  Theoria  medica  vera'  (1707),  *Experimenta 
et  observationes  chemicae'  (1731),  etc."** 

76.  Philip  Hecquet  (1661-1737)  was  a  celebrated  French 
physician.  He  studied  at  Rheims,  and  in  1688  became  the 
physician  of  the  nuns  of  Port  Royal  des  Champs.  He  re- 
turned to  Paris  in  1693  and  took  his  doctor's  degree  in  1697. 

""Dialogues  Between  Hylas  and  Philonous,"  I,  Open  Court  edition; 
pp.  27,  2%,  29.     Cf.  "Principles  of  Human  Knowledge,"  par.   10,   15. 
w  Quoted  from  J.  Burnet,  "Early  Greek  Philosophy,"  Chap.  II. 
"Republic  III,  403. 

»  'Les  passions  de  Tame,"  Part  I,  Art.  VIII. 
"  Quoted  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  X. 


APPENDIX. 


201 


He  was  twice  dean  of  the  faculty  of  Paris.  In  1727  he  be- 
came the  physician  of  the  religious  Carmelites  of  the  suburb 
of  Saint  Jacques,  and  remained  their  physician  for  thirty- 
two  years." 

77.  The  quotation:  "All  men  may  not  go  to  Corinth!*  is 
translated  from  Horace,  Ep.  i,  19,  36.  "Non  cuivis  homini 
contigit  adire  Corinthum." 

78.  Hermann  Boerhaave  was  born  at  Voorhout  near  Leyden, 
on  December  31,  1668.  His  father,  who  belonged  to  the  cler- 
ical profession,  destined  his  son  for  the  same  calling  and  so 
gave  him  a  liberal  education.  At  the  University  of  Leyden, 
he  studied  under  Gronovius,  Ryckius  and  Frigland.  At  the 
death  of  his  father,  Boerhaave  was  left  without  any  provision 
and  supported  himself  by  teaching  mathematics.  Vandenberg, 
the  burgomaster  of  Leyden,  advised  him  to  study  medicine, 
and  he  decided  to  devote  himself  to  this  profession.  In  1693 
he  received  his  degree  and  began  to  practice  medicine.  In 
1701  he  was  made  "Lecturer  on  the  Institutes  of  Medicine"  at 
the  University  of  Leyden.  Thirteen  years  later  he  was  ap- 
pointed Rector  of  the  University,  and  the  same  year  became 
Professor  of  Practical  Medicine  there.  He  introduced  into  the 
university  the  system  of  clinical  instruction.  Boerhaave's 
merit  was  widely  recognized,  and  his  fame  attracted  many 
medical  students  from  all  Europe  to  the  University  of  Leyden. 
Among  these  was  La  Mettrie  whose  whole  philosophy  was 
profoundly  influenced  by  the  teaching  of  Boerhaave.  In  1728 
Boerhaave  was  elected  into  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  of 
Paris,  and  two  years  later  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  London.  In  1731  his  health  compelled  him  to  resign 
the  Rectorship  at  Leyden.  At  this  time  he  delivered  an  ora- 
tion, "De  Honore,  Medici  Servitute."  He  died  after  a  long 
illness  on  April  23,  1738.  The  city  of  Leyden  erected  a  monu- 
ment to  him  in  the  Church  of  St.  Peter,  and  inscribed  on  it: 
"Salutifero  Boerhaavii  genio  Sacrum." 

Boerhaave  was  a  careful  and  brilliant  student,  an  inspiring 
teacher,  and  a  skilful  practitioner.  There  are  remarkable  ac- 
counts of  his  skill  in  discovering  symptoms,  and  in  diagnosing 
diseases.    His  chief  works  are:  "Institutiones  Medicae"  (Ley- 

•*  Translated  and  condensed  from  La  Grande  Encyclopidie,  Vol.  19. 


\> 


\ 


202 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


\o^<^'' 


I 


den,  1708) ;  "Aphorismi  de  cognoscendls  et  curandis  Morbis" 
(Leyden,  1709),  "Libellus  de  Materia  Medica  et  Remediorum 
Formulis"  (Leyden,  1719),  "Institutiones  et  Experimentae 
Chemicae"  (Paris,  1724)." 

79.  Willis.     (See  Note  21.) 

80.  Claude  Perrault  (1613-1688)  was  a  French  physician  and 
architect.  He  received  his  degree  of  doctor  of  medicine  at 
Paris  and  practised  medicine  there.  In  1673  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences.  Ahhough  he  never 
abandoned  his  vjrork  in  mathematics,  in  the  natural  sciences,  and 
in  medicine,  he  is  more  noted  as  an  architect  than  as  a  phy- 
sician or  scientist.  He  was  the  architect  of  one  of  the  colon- 
nades of  the  Louvre,  and  of  the  Observatory." 

81.  "Matter  is  self  "moved"  In  "L'histoire  naturelle  de  I'ame" 
(/  La  Mettrie  claims  that  motion  is  one  of  the  essential  properties 

of  matter.    See  "L'histoire  naturelle  de  I'ame,"  Chap.  V. 

82.  "The  nature  of  motion  is  as  unknown  to  us  as  that  of 
matter."  Unlike  La  Mettrie,  Toland  holds  that  it  is  possible 
to  know  the  nature  of  matterT^arRr  declares  that  motion  and 
matter  can  not  be  defined,  because  their  nature  is  self-evi- 
dent.**  Holbach,  resembling  La  Mettrie,  teaches  that  it  is 
futile  to  seek  to  know  the  ultimate  nature  of  matter,  or  the 
cause  for  its  existence.  "Thus  if  any  one  shall  ask  whence 
matter  came,  we  shall  say  that  it  has  alv/ays  existed.  If  any 
one  ask,  whence  came  movement  in  matter,  we  shall  answer 
that  for  this  same  reason  matter  must  have  moved  from  eter- 
nity, since  motion  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  its  existence, 
its  essence,  and  of  its  primitive  properties,  such  as  extent, 

weight,  impenetrability,  shape,  etc The  existence  of  matter 

is  a  fact ;  the  existence  of  motion  is  another  fact."* 

83.  Huyghens  (Christian)  was  born  at  The  Hague,  1629,  and 
died  there  in  1695.    He  was  a  Dutch  physicist,  mathematician, 

•■Condensed  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  III. 
"Translated  and  condensed  from  La  Grande  Encyclopkdie,  Vol.  26. 
■^^     •♦"Letters  to  Serena,"  V. 

•»  "Systeme  de  la  nature,"  Vol.  II,  Chap.  II,  p.  32. 


APPENDIX. 


203 


and  astronomer.  He  is  celebrated  for  the  invention  of  the 
pendulum  clock  which  could  measure  the  movements  of  the 
planets,  for  the  improvement  of  the  telescope,  and  for  the 
development  of  the  wave-theory  of  light.  His  principal  work 
is  "Horologium  Oscillatorium"   (1673).'* 

84.  Julien  Leroy  (1686-1759)  was  a  celebrated  French  watch- 
maker. He  excelled  in  the  construction  of  pendulums  and 
of  large  clocks.  Some  have  attributed  the  construction  of  the 
first  horizontal  clock  to  him,  but  this  is  doubtful.  Among 
many  other  inventions  and  improvements  of  clocks,  he  in- 
vented the  compensating  pendulum  which  bears  his  name.** 

85.  Jacques  de  Vaucanson  (1709-1782)  was  a  French  mech- 
anist. From  his  childhood  he  was  always  interested  in  mech- 
anical contrivances.  In  1738  he  presented  to  the  French 
Academy  his  remarkable  flute  player.  Soon  after,  he  made  a 
duck  which  could  swim,  eat,  and  digest,  and  an  asp  which 
could  hiss  and  dart  on  Cleopatra's  breast.  He  later  held  the 
position  of  inspector  of  the  manufacture  of  silk.  In  1748  he 
was  admitted  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences.  His  machines  were 
left  to  the  Queen,  but  she  gave  them  to  the  Academy,  and  in 
the  disturbances  which  followed  the  pieces  were  scattered  and 
lost.  Vaucanson  published:  "Mecanisme  d'un  fluteur  auto- 
mate"  (Paris,  1738).' 


08 


^[T^^^S^skc^^nderstood  animal  nature;  he  was  the  first 
te  completely  that  animals  are  pure  machines"  Contrast 
this  with  La  Mettrie's  former  reference  in  "L'histoire  na- 
turelle de  Tame"  to  "this  absurd  system  *that  animals  are  pure 
machines.'  Such  a  laughable  opinion,"  he  adds,  "has  never 
gained  admittance  among  philosophers. ..  .Experience  does 
not  prove  the  faculty  of  feeling  any  less  in  animals  than  in 
men.""  It  is  evident  that  La  Mettrie's  opposition  to  this 
'absurd  system'  was  based  upon  his  insistence  on  the  similarity 
of  men  and  animals.  In  "L'homme  machine"  he  argues  from 
the  same  premiss,  that  animals  are  machines,  that  men  are 
like  animals,  and  that  therefore  men  also  are  machines. 

••Condensed  from  the  Century  Dictionary,  Vol.  IX. 
•'Translated  and  condensed  from  La  Grande  Encyclopedie,  Vol.  33. 
••  Translated  and  condensed  from  La  Grande  Encyclopidie,  VoL  3U 
••"L'histoire  naturelle  de  I'ame,"  Chap.  VI. 


■/    (' 


I 


/  ■ 


\)M 


,lrt^ 


</ 


J 


NOTES  ON  THE  EXTRACTS  FROM  "L'HISTOIRE 
NATURELLE  DE  UAME." 

87.  Matter,  according  to  La  Mettrie,  is  endowed  with  ex- 
tensity,  the  power  of  movement  ,and  the  faculty  of  sensation. 
As  La  Mettrie  says,  this  conception  was  not  held  by  Des- 
,c^es,  who  thought  that  the  essential  attribute  of  matteT¥ 
e^nsion.    "The  nature  of  body  consists  not  in  weight,  hard- 
nessTcolor,  and  the  like  but  in  extension  alone—in  its  being 
a  substance  extended  in  length,  breadth  and  height. "'"»  Hobbes's 
conception  of  matter  is  very  similar  to  that  of  La  MettrlT^e 
specifically  attributes  motion  to  matter:  "Motion  and  magni- 
tude are  the  most  common  accidents  of  all  bodies."'"    He  does 
not  name  sensation  as  an  attribute  of  matter,  but  he  reduces 
sensation^o  motion.     "Sense  is  some  internal  motion  in  the 
sentient.*'"*    Since  motion  is  one  of  the  attributes  of  matter, 
and  since  matter  is  the  only  reality  in  the  universe,  sensation 
must  be  attributed  to  matter. 

88.  La  Mettrie  always  insists  that  matter  has  the  power  of 
movmg  Itself,  and  resents  any  attempt  to  show  that  the  motion 
IS  due  to  an  outside  agent.  In  this  opinion  he  is  in  agreement 
with  Toland.  Toland  says  that  those  who  have  regarded 
matter  as  inert  havThad  to  find  some  efficient  cause  for  mo- 
tion ;  and  to  do  this,  they  have  held  that  all  nature  is  animated. 
This  pretended  animation,  however,  is  utterly  useless,  since 
matter  is  itself  endowed  with  motion. 

89.  "This  absurd  system. . .  .that  animals  are  pure  machines" 
(See  Note  86.) 

»«>  "Principles  of  Metaphysics,"  Part  II,  Prop.  4. 
-    >«  "De  Corpor-,"  Part  III.  Chap.  XV. 
^Ibid..  Part  IV.  Chap.  XXV.  (a). 


V 


WORKS  CONSULTED  AND  CITED  IN  THE  NOTES. 

(An  asterisk  indicates  the  edition  to  which  reference  is  made.) 

JULIEN  OfFRAY  de  LA  MetTRIE. 

1745    "L'histoire  naturelle  de   I'ame."     The   Hague.     (This 
work  appears  as  "Traite  de  I'ame"  in  La  Mettrie's 
collected  works.) 
1748    "L'homme  machine."    Leyden. 

"L'homme  machine  par  La  Mettrie,  avec  une  introduc- 
tion et  des  notes."    J.  Assezat.    Paris,  1865. 
1751    "CEuvres  philosophiques."     London   (Berlin). 
1764  *"(Euvres  philosophiques  de  Monsieur  de  la  Mettrie," 
Amsterdam.   Besides  "L'homme  machine"  and  "Traite 
de  Tame,"  the  "(Euvres  philosophiques"  contain  the 
following  (dates  of  first  publication  added  in  paren- 
theses) : 
"Abrege  des  systemes." 
"L'homme  plante"  (1748). 
**Les  animaux  plus  que  machines"  (1750). 
"L'Anti-Seneque"  (1748). 
"L'art  de  jouir"  (1751). 
*Systeme  d'Epicure." 


Ul 


Elie  Luzac. 

1748    "LTiomme  plus  que  machine."    London  (Leyden). 

*"Man  More  than  a  Machine,"  translated  from  the  French 
of  Elie  Luzac,  and  printed  with  the  translation  of 
"Man  a  Machine"  for  G.  Smith,  1750. 

R6n£  Descartes. 

1637    "Essais  philosophiques,"  including  "Discours  de  la  me- 

thode. 
♦"The  Discourse  on  Method,"  translated  by  John  Veitch. 

Open  Court  Publishing  Co.,  1903. 
1641    "Meditationes  de  prima  philosophia." 


\ 


206 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


1644    "Principia  philosophiae." 

♦"The  Meditations  and  Selections  from  the  Principles  of 
Philosophy,"  translated  by  John  Veitch.    Open  Court 
Publishing  Co.,  1905. 
1650    "Les  passions  de  Tame/* 

♦"(Euvres  de  Descartes,"  Vol.  IV.  Edited  by  Victor  Cou- 
sin, Paris,  1824. 

John  Toland. 

1704  ♦"Letters   to   Serena."     London.     Printed   for   Bernard 
Lintot. 

Thomas  Hobbes. 

1650  "Human  Nature  or  the  Fundamental  Elements  of  Poli- 

cie."    London. 

1651  "Leviathan;  Or  the  Matter,  Form,  and  Power  of  a  Com- 

monwealth, Ecclesiastical  &  Civil."    London. 
1655    "Elementorum  Philosophiae  Sectio  Prima:  De  Corpore." 
London. 
♦English  Works  edited  by  Sir  William  Molesworth,  1839- 

45-    Volume  III.    Leviathan. 
Volume  IV.    Human  Nature. 

John  Locke. 

1690    "An  Essay  Concerning  Human  Understanding.  London. 

♦Edition  of  Books  II  and  IV  (with  omissions)  preceded 

by  the  English  version  of  Le  Clerc's  "Eloge  historique 

de  feu  Mr.  Locke,"  ed.  M.  W.  Calkins.    Open  Court 

Publishing  Co.,  1905. 

Etienne  Bon  not  de  Condillac. 

1754  "Traite  des  sensations."    Paris  and  London. 

1755  "Traite  des  animaux."    Paris  and  London. 

♦"(Euvres  completes,"  23  vols.  Edited  by  Guillaume  Ar- 
noux  and  Mousnier.  Paris,  1798.  Vol.  III.  "Traite 
des  sensations.    Traite  des  animaux." 

Baron  P.  H.  D.  von  Holbach. 

1770  "Systeme  de  la  nature,"  par  M.  Mirabaud   [really  Von 
Holbach] . 
♦Nouvelle  edition  avec  des  notes  et  des  corrections  par 
Diderot.    Paris,  182 1. 


APPENDIX. 


207 


C.  A.  Helvetius. 

1758    "De  I'esprit."    Paris. 

♦"De  I'esprit,  or  Essays  on  the  mind  and  its  several  facul- 
ties," translated  from  the  French  by  Wiliam  Mulford. 
London,  1810. 
1772  "De  I'homme,  de  ses  facultes,  et  de  son  education."  2 
vols.  London. 
♦"A  Treatise  on  Man ;  His  Intellectual  Faculties  and  His 
Education,"  translated  from  the  French,  with  notes, 
by  W.  Hooper,  M.  D.,  1810. 

Frederick  the  Great. 

♦"(Euvres  de  Frederic  II.,  Roi  de  Prusse,  publiees  du 
vivant  de  I'auteur."  Berlin,  1789:  "Eloge  de  Julien 
Offray  de  la  Mettrie,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  IS9  ff- 

Francis  Bacon. 

♦"Sylva  Sylvarum,  sive  Historia  Naturalis,"  transcripta 
a  J.  Grutero  Lug.  Batavor.    1648. 

F.  A.  Lange. 

♦"History  of  Materialism,"  translated  by  Ernest  Chester 
Thomas,  Boston,  1877. 

W.  Windelband. 

♦"History  of  Philosophy,"  translated  by  J.  H.  Tufts,  New 
York,  1898. 

A.  W.  Benn. 

♦"History  of  English  Rationalism  in  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury."   London,  1906. 

'Xa  Grande  Encyclopedic  .  Inventaire  Raisonne  des  Sciences, 
des  Lettres,  et  des  Arts,  par  une  Societe  de  Savants  et  de 
Gens  de  Lettres."  Paris,  1885- 1903. 


WT" 


The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.     A  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Sci- 
ences, and  General  Literature."    Ninth  Edition. 

"The  Century  Dictionary  and  Cyclopedia."    New  York. 

"Dictionary  of  Philosophy  and  Psychology,"  edited  by  J.  M. 
Baldwin.    London  and  New  York,  1901. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  TITLES. 

(Italicised  numerals  refer  to  pages  of  the  French  text.) 


I! 


Abadie,  James  (Jacques),  51,  123, 

190. 
"Abr^ge    des    systemes    philoso- 

phiques,"  by  La  Mettrie,  165, 

166,  170,  205. 
Academy  of  Berlin,   176,  182. 
Academy  of  Inscriptions,  193. 
Academy    of    Sciences    at    Paris, 

186,  203. 
Academy  of  Surgery  at  Paris,  183. 
"Adversus  (Rentes,"  by  Arnobius, 

x88. 
America,    197. 
Amman,    Johann    Conrad,    ^p,   50, 

100,  101,   102,   185. 
"Amphitheatrum  aeternae  Provi- 

dentiae,"  by  Vanini,  192. 
Amsterdam,  185. 
"Anatome  Plantarum,"  by  Mal- 

pighi,  192. 
Angers,   195. 
Ansbach,  200. 
"Ante-Nicene   Christian   Library," 

188. 
Anthropological  Society,   178. 
Anti-Pyrrhonians,  5^,   125,   194. 
•'Aphorismi  de  cognoscendis  et  cu- 

randis  Morbis,"  by  Boerhaave,  5, 

303. 

"Aphrodisiacus,"  by  Boerhaave,  4. 

Aristotle,  40,   iii. 

Arnobius  the  Elder,  42,  113,   188. 

Arnoux,  Guillaume,  206. 

"L'art  de  jouir,"  by  La  Mettrie, 

205. 
"L'art  de  parler,"  by  Lamy,   195. 
Assezat,  J.,  176,  178,  205. 


"Astro-Theology,"    by    Derham, 
191. 

Bacon,   Francis,  57,  sg,   129,    130, 

197.  207. 
Baldwin,  J.  M.,  181,  187,  207. 
Basle,   185. 
Bavaria,    176,   200. 
Bayle,    Pierre,    39,    63,    no,    133, 

187-188. 
Benn,  A.  W.,   192,  207. 
Berkeley,  George,  200. 
Berlin,  9,   190,  200. 
Bidloo,  Nikolaus,  196. 
Blois,  24^  96. 
Blondel,    Frangois,    62. 
Boerhaave,  Hermann,  4,  5,  24,  ($7, 

74t  96,   138,   182,   201-202. 
Boindin,  Nicolas,  53,   124,   193. 
Bologna,   191. 
Borelli,  Giovanni  Alfonso,     63,  133, 

198. 
Boyle,  Robert,  58,  129,  197. 
Brittany,  4,   176. 
Burnet,  J.,  200. 

Caen,  3,   176. 

Calkins,  M.  W.,  iv,  206: 

Calvinists,  8. 

Cambrai,   190. 

Cambridge,   185,   196. 

Canterbury,   184,   196. 

Carlat,    187. 

Carmelites,  201. 

Cartesians,  13,  39,  68,  85,  in,  138- 

139,    155.    159,    182,    188,   190. 
Catholics,  8. 


) 


/ 


210 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


INDEX. 


211 


; 


Catius,  22,  94. 

"Century    Dictionary,"    182,    184, 

»9o,    191,    19a,    19s.    i97i    aoo, 
ao3,   207. 

Chaila,  Viscount  of,  8. 
Chalons,   Maid  of,  47,   u8. 
Chalon-sur-Saone,    193. 
Champagne,   118. 
Charles  II  of  England,   185. 
Charp,  72,   143. 
Chartres,  jj,  104. 
Charybdis,  7%,  146. 
Chateau  de  Fenelon,  190. 
Chazelle-sur-Lyon,  182. 
"Chemical   Proceedings,"  by  Boer- 
haave,  5. 

"Chemical  Theory,"  by  Boerhaave, 

5- 
Chiverny,  Chancelor,  24,  96. 
Christ  Church,  Oxford,  184. 
Christianity,   75,  yi^   87,    121,    197. 
Christians,  5/,  123. 
Christina,  Queen  of  Sweden,   199. 
Chubb,  Thomas,  192. 
Cicero,  Marcus  Tullius,  156. 
Cleopatra,  203. 
College  of  Physicians,  197. 
Collins,  Anthony,  192. 
"Concorde   de   la   geographie    des 

differents  ages."  by  Pluche,  178. 
Condillac,  Etienne  Bonnot  de,  170- 

173,  180,  186,  188,  194,  19s,  198. 

206. 

Copenhagen,  198. 

Cordier,  3. 

Corinth,  67,   137. 

Comeille,  Pierre,  40,  iii,  184. 

Cos,   181. 

Cousin,  Victor,  206. 

Coutances,  3,  176. 

Cowper.  William,  57,  129,  196. 

Damiron,  Ph.,  176. 

Darget,  176. 

"De  admirandis  naturae  reginae  et 

mortalium  arcanis,"  by   Vanini, 

192. 

"De  Anima  Brutorum,"  by  Willis, 

27.  98. 
"De  Cerebro,"  by  Willis,  27,  98. 


««i 


««i 


De    Corpore."    by   Hobbcs,    167, 

204,  206. 
De  I'esprit,"  by  Helvetius,   307; 

see  "Essays  on  the  Mind." 
"De  I'homme,  de  ses  facultes,  ct  de 

son    education,"    by    Helvetius, 

207;  see  "A  Treatise  on  Man." 
"De    pulmonibus,"     by    Malpighi, 

192. 
"De  rerum  natura,"  by  Lucretius, 

"De   Structura  Glandularum  con- 
globatarum,"   by  Malpighi,    193. 

"De  Viscerum  Structura,"  by  Mal- 
pighi,  192. 

Deism,  192. 

Deists,  5/,  123,  124. 

Democritus,  8,  181. 

Derham,  William,  5/,  123,  191. 

Desbarreaux,    Jacques    Vallee,   5J, 
124.   193- 

Descartes,  R^n6,  13,  17,  j8,  40,  51, 
7<?.  7S,  8s,  90,  III,  123,  142, 
M6,  153,  15s.  165-166,  179,  180, 
181,  183,  194,  196,  198,  199,  200, 
203,  204,  205. 

Dettingen,  5,   176. 
"Dialogues  between  Hylas  and  PhiT 
lonous,"  by  Berkeley,  200. 

Dialogues   des   morts,"   by    Fene- 
lon,  190. 
"Dialogues  des  morts,"  by  Fontc- 

nelle,  27,  184. 
"Diatribe  du  Docteur  Akakia,"  by 
Voltaire,  182. 

Dictionary  of  Philosophy  and 
Psychology,"  ed.  by  Baldwin, 
181,  187,  207. 

Dictionnaire   des   Sciences  phUo- 
sophiques,"  195. 
"Dictionnaire   historique  et  cri- 
tique," by  Bayle,  188. 
Diderot,   Denis,  53,   124.  179,   193, 

206. 

"Discours  sur  I'anatomie  du  cer- 
veau,"  by  Stenon,  198. 

"Discours  sur  le  Bonheur,"  by  La 
Mettrie,  189. 

"Discourse  on  Method,"  by  Des- 
cartes, 180,  183,  205. 


*<i 


«< 


« 


It 

u 


"Dissertatio  de  Loquela,"  by  Am- 
man, 185. 
Don  Quixote,  6. 
Dordogne,   190. 
Dreano,   Louise  Charlotte,  9. 
Duras,  Duke  of,  8. 

"Early  Greek  Philosophy,"  by  Bur- 
net, 200. 

Eclogues,"  by  Vergil,  195. 
'Elementorura    Philosophiae,    Sec- 

tio  Prima,"  by  Hobbes,  206.  See 

"De  Corpore." 
"Elements  de  geometric,"  by  Lamy, 

195- 
Elis,  Pyrrho  of,  187. 
"Eloge    historique    de    feu    Mr. 

Locke,"  by  Le  Clerc,  206. 
"Eloges  des  academiciens,"  by  Fon- 

tenelle,  184. 
"Encyclopaedia    Britannica,"    179, 

181,  184,  185,  188,  192,  198,  199, 

202,  207. 
"Encyclopedic,"    ed.    by    Diderot, 

193- 
England,  167,  185,  190,  192. 
"Enlightenment,  the,"  170. 
"Entretiens    sur    la    pluralite    des 

mondes,"  by  Fontenelle,   184. 
"Entretiens  sur  les  sciences,"  by 

Lamy,  195. 
Epictetus,  64,   135. 
Epicureans,  55,  68,  126,  138. 
"Epistolae  anatomicae  narc.   Mal- 
pighi et  Car.   Fracassati,"   192. 
"Epodes,"  by  Horace,  201. 
Erasmus,  27,  99. 
Erebus,   189. 

"Essais  philosophiques,"  by  Des- 
cartes, 205. 

"Essais  sur  I'esprit,  et  les  beaux 
csprits,"  by  La  Mettrie,   178. 

"Essay  Concerning  Human  Under- 
standing," by  Locke,  170,  178, 
194,  206. 

"Essays  on  the  Mind,"  by  Helve- 
tius, 172,  187,  198,  207. 

Essex,  191. 

Eton,  197. 

"Eulogy"  on  La  Mettrie,  by  Fred- 
erick the  Great,  1-9,  176,  207. 


Euripides,  40,   iii. 

Europe,  29,  100,  201. 

"Exercitatio  de  motu  cordis  et  san- 
guinis," by  Harvey,  197. 

"Exercitationes  de  generatione 
animalium,"  by  Harvey,   197. 

"L'existence  de  Dieu  demontree 
par  les  merveilles  de  la  nature," 
by  Nieuwentyt,   190. 

"Experimenta  et  observationes  che- 
micae,"  by  Stahl,  200. 

"Explication    des    maximes    des 
saints,"  by  Fenelon,   190. 

P'allope    (Fallopius  or   Fallopio) 

Gabriello,  74. 
Fenelrn,  Francois  de  Salignac  de 

la  Mothe,  51,  123,  190. 
Florence,  197,  198. 
Florentine  Academy,  179. 
I'ontenelle,  Bernard  de,  27,  33,  39, 

99.  104,  no,  184,   186. 
Fontenelle,  Charles  de  la,   195. 
Fontenoy,   Battle  of,  6,   176. 
France,   7,   9,    167,    183,    184,    187, 

190,  191,  192,  197. 
Frederic  II,  the  Great,  3,  176,  207. 
Freiburg,  5. 

P'rench  Academy,  the,   193,  203. 
Frigland,  201. 

Galen,  Claudius,  18,  90,    180,   199. 
Galileo  Galilei,    179,    197. 
Gaston  of  Orleans,  47,   118. 
Gasville,    178. 
Gaudron,  Marie,  3. 
Geneva,    186,   187. 
George  II  of  England,  176. 
Germany,  32,   186,   192. 
"Glandularum  descriptio,"  by  Cow- 
per,  196. 
Gorgias,  181. 
Gramont,  Duke  of,  5. 
Great  Bedwin,  184. 
Gronovius,  Johann  Friedrich,  201. 
Grutero,  J.,  207. 
Guise,  Duke  of,  24,  96. 

Hackney,   94, 

Haeckel,  Ernst,  184,  185. 

"Hague,  The,"  186,  202. 


r:#i 

0 


If 


212 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


Haller,  Albrecht  von,  7J,  143. 
Hanover,  198. 
Harcourt,  College  of,  4. 
"Harmonie   des   Psaumes  et   de 

rEvangile,"  by  Pluche,   178. 
Hartsoeker,  Nicolas,  74. 
Harvey,  William,  57,  129,  196. 
Hecquct,  Philip,  67,  137,  aoo. 
Heliopolis,  Bishop  of,  198. 
Helvetius,  Claude  Adrien,  170-172, 

173,  187,  189,  198,  307. 
Henry  III,  24^  96. 
Heraclides,  181. 
Herodicus  of  Sclymbria,  i8i. 
Hippocrates,  j8,  61,  64,  78,  90,  132, 

»35.  »47.  181. 
"Histoire  de  la  philosophie  du  dix- 

huitieme    siede,"    by    Damiron, 

176. 
"Histoire    des   oracles,"    by    Fon- 

tenelle,  184. 
"I'Histoire  des  Polypes,"  by  Trem- 

bley,    so;     see   "Memoires   pour 

aervire  k  I'histoire  d'un  genre  de 

polype  d'eau  douce." 
THistoire  naturelle  de  rame,"by 

La  Mettrie,   18,  29,  30,   69,   90, 

166,  167,  169,  170,  180,  181,  186, 

189,  199,  202,  203,  204,  205. 
"History  of  English  Rationalism." 

by  Benn,  192,  207. 
"History    of    Materialism,"    by 

Lange,  171,  176,  193,  197,  207. 
"History  of  Philosophy"   by  Win- 

delband,  193,  207. 
Hobbes,  Thomas,  166-168,  x86,  187, 

I94>  304,  206. 
Holbach,  P.  H.  D.  von,    173-174, 

180,  183,  189,  193,  194,  196,  199, 

202,  206. 
Holland,  176,  187. 
"L'homme  machine,"  by  La  Met- 
trie,  ii-8i,    176,    178,   203,   205; 

see  "Man  a  Machine. 
"L'homme    plante,"    by    La    Met- 
trie, 205. 
"L'homme  plus  que  machine,"  by 

Luzac,  177,  205;  see  "Man  more 

than  a  machine." 
Hooper,   W.,  207. 
Horace,   aoi. 


"Horologium  Oscillatorium,"  by 

Huyghens,  203. 
"Human  Nature,"  by  Hobbes,  206. 
Hunault,  4,  5. 
Huyghens,  Christian,  70,  140,  202. 

India,  58,  197. 

Innocent  XII,  Pope,  191. 

"Institutiones    et    Experimentae 
Chemicae,"  by  Boerhaave,  202. 

"Institutiones  Medicae,"  by  Boer- 
haave, s,  67,  74,  138,  201. 

Ireland,  185,  190. 

Italy,  186,  197. 

Ixion,  189. 

Ixions  of  Christianity,  50,  121,  189. 

James  I,  197. 
Jansenist,  3,  178. 
Jesuits,  187. 
Jews,  198. 
Joshua,  7. 
Julius,  Caius,  18,  91, 

Killaloe,  190. 

"La  Grande  Encydop^die,"  178, 
179,  182,  183,  186,  190,  191,  193, 
196,  198,  201,  202,  203,  207. 

La  Mettrie,  Julien  OflFray  de,  the 
elder,  3. 

La  Mettrie,  Julien  Offray  de,  the 
writer,  3-9,  48,  120,  151,  165-174, 
»76,  177,  180,  181,  183,  x86,  188, 
189,  193,  194,  195,  198,  199,  200, 
201,  202,  203,  204,  205. 

"La  Pensee  Nouvelle,"  178. 

"La  philosophie  mat^rialiste  au 
XVIII«  siecle,"  by  N.  Quepat, 
176. 

"La  Revue  de  Paris,"  178. 

"La  Revue  Nationale,"  178. 

Lamy,  Bernard,  55,  126,  195. 

Lancisi,  Giovanni-Maria,  26,  98. 

Lange,  F.  A.,   171,   176,   193,  197, 
207. 

Laon,  College  of,  178. 

Lapland,  182. 

Le  Clerc,  Jean,  206. 

Lecl^re,  190. 

Leibnitz,  17,  90,  190. 


I 


INDEX. 


213 


«(i 


<ii 


«i 


<«i 


Lcibnizians,  13,  32.  63,  <«,.  85,  103, 

^33,  138.  j 

I^Porc,  Jean,  195. 

"Le  reve  d'Alembert,"  by  Diderot, 

193. 
Lcroy,  Julien,  70,   140,  203. 
*'Lcs  animaux  plus  que  machines," 

by  La  Mettrie,  205. 
*Les  aventures  de  Tel^maque,"  by 

Fenelon,   190. 
*Les  passions  de  Tame,"  by  Des- 
cartes, 181,  198.  199.  200,  206. 
Letters   to    Serena,"    by   Toland, 
168,  169,   194,  202,  206. 
*Lcttres  sur  la  physiognomie,"  by 

Pernety,  24,  95,  182. 
"Leviathan,  The,*'  by  Hobbes,  167, 

168,  186,  187,  194,  206. 
Leyden,  4.  8.  //.  68,  ,38,  ,98,  201. 
Leyden,  University  of,  201. 
"Libellus    de    Materia    Medica    et 
Remediorum  Formulis,"  by  Boer- 
haave, 202. 
Lintot,  Bernard,  206. 
Locke,  John,  /j,  14,  ^^,  ^,  ^^  j^^ 
85.   86,    96,    10 1,    III,    142,    j7o^ 
^77.   178,   194,  206. 
London,   186,   190. 
Lorraine,   191. 
Louis  XV,   182,  183. 
Louvre,  202. 

Lucretius  (Titus  Lucretius  Carus), 

55*  126,  195. 
Lutherans,  8. 
Luzac,  Elie,  11,  177,  ,79,  182,  187, 

188,  190,  196,  205. 
Lyons,  182,  192. 

Malebranche,  Nicolas,  17,  jp,  5/,  (^^ 

85.  90,  no,  123. 
Malebranchists,  /j,  68,  ,39. 
Malpighi,  Marcello,  5/.  75,  123,  144, 

191. 
"Man  a  Machine,"  by  La  Mettrie, 

8,   83,   8s,    165,    166,    167,    168, 

169,  174,  177.  205;  see  "L'homme 

Machine." 
"Man  More  than  a  Machine,"  by 

Luzac,   177,   179,   X82,   187,   189, 

«9o,    196,    205;    see    "L'homme 

plus  que  machine." 


Mans,  195. 

Marcus  Aurelius,    180. 

Maria  Theresa,  176. 

Martin,  Andr6,   195. 

Mary  II,  of  England,  185. 

Materialists,    166,    167,    173. 

"Materia  Medica,"  by  Boerhaave,  5. 

Maupertuis,  Pierre  Louis  Moreau 

dc,  24,  96,   182. 
Mazarin,  Cardinal,  191.. 
"Mecanique  des  langues  et  Tart  de 
^^  les  enseigner,"  by  Pluche,  178. 
"Mecanisme    d'un    fluteur    auto- 
mate," by  Vaucanson,  203. 
"Meditationes    de    prima    philoso- 
phia,"   by    Descartes,    180,    194, 
196,  205,  206. 
"Memoires,"  by  Rais,   191. 
"Memoires  pour  servir  a  I'histoire 
d'un    genre     de    polype     d'eau 
douce,"  by  Trembley,  186. 
"Memoirs,"    by    Temple,    30,    loi, 

185. 
Messina,  191,  198. 

Mirabaud    (really    von    Holbach), 
206. 

Mohammedans,  198. 
Molesworth,  Sir  William,  206. 
Montpellier,   183. 
"Moral  Essays,"  by  Pope,  182. 
Morand,  Sauveur-Frangois,  5. 
Mousnier,    206. 
Mulford,   William,  207. 
Munster,  198. 

"Myotamia  reformata,"  by  Cowper, 
196. 

My  si  a,  180. 

Nay,  Basse-Pyrenees,  190. 
Netherlands,  The,  176,  185,  192. 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  40,  72,  78,  m, 

142.   146. 
Nieuwentyt,  Bernard,  51,  123,  190. 
Normandy,  178. 
Numidia,  188. 


Observatory  (Paris),  202. 

"(Euvres  completes,"  de  Condillac, 
206. 

"CEuvres  de  Descartes,  206. 
"(Euvres  de  Frederic  II,"  207. 


"-A^i 


214 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


INDEX. 


215 


"CEuvres  philosophiques  de  la  Met- 

trie,"  205. 
Orleans,   Gaston  of,  47,   118. 
"Ortus   medicinae,"    by   van    Hel- 

mont,  182. 
Oxford,  Christ  Church,   184. 

Padua,   192. 

Paris,  4.  5,  154,  178,  183,  184,  186, 
193.  X9S.  198,  200,  201,  202,  203. 

Pascal,  Blaise,  48^  120. 

Patin,  Guy,   193. 

"Penelope,"  by  La  Mettrie,  8. 

"Pensees  philosophiques,"  by  Dide- 
rot, 53,  124,  193. 

Pergamus,    180. 

Peripatetic,  id,  88,   180. 

Pernety,  Jacques,   182. 

Perrault,  Claude,  68,   138,  202. 

Petronius,  18,  91. 

Peyronie,  Frangois  Gigot  de  la,  26, 
98,   183. 

"Philosophical    Transactions,"    /j, 
143,  186,  191. 

"Physico-Theology,"    by    Derham, 
191. 

Pisa,    191,   198. 

Plato,  64,   134,   13s,  200. 

Plessis,   3. 

Pliny,  /5,  87. 

Pluche,   Noel  Antoine,  15,  16,  87, 
88,  178. 

"Poesies    pastorales,"    by    Fonte- 
nelle,  184. 

Pope,   Alexander,  ^^,  d?,   94,    132, 
182. 

Port  Royal,  48,  120,  200. 

"Practical  Medicine,"  by  La  Met- 
trie, s. 

Precieux,  The,  184. 

"Principia    philosophiae"    by    Des- 
cartes,  166,   204,  206. 

"Principles  of  Human  Knowledge," 
by  Berkeley,  200. 

Prometheus,  24,  70,  96,   141. 

Protestant  College  of  Sedan,   187. 

Prussia,  8,  200. 

Puritan    College   of   Emmanuel, 
Cambridge,  185. 

Purmerend,   190. 

Pyrrho  of  Elis,  187. 


Pyrrhonian,  jp,  55,  110,  127. 
Pyrrhonism,    187. 
Pythagoras,  64,  134,  200. 
Pythagoreans,   200. 

Quepat,  N.,  176. 

Rais,  or  Cardinal  de  Retz,  57,  123, 
191. 

Reaumur,  Rene  Antoine  Ferchault 
de,  178. 

"Republic,"  by  Plato,  200. 

Restoration,   the,    184. 

Retz,  Cardinal  de;  see  Rais. 

Rheims,   4,  200. 

Richmond,   Duke  of,    186. 

Rollin,  Charles,   178. 

Rome,   180,   192,  19s,   198. 

Rotterdam,  188. 

Rouen,   184. 

Royal  Academy  of  Science  of  Ber- 
lin, 9. 

Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  of 
Paris,  201,  202. 

Royal  College  of  Physicians,    184. 

Royal  Society  of  London,  184,  186, 
197,  201. 

Royalists,   184. 

Ryckius,  Theodore,  201. 

Saint  Eloi  de  Montpcllier,  Hos- 
pital of,   183. 

Saint  Jacques,  201. 

Saint  Malo,  4,  5. 

Saint  Martin's,    184. 

Saintsbury,  George  Edward  Bate- 
man,  184. 

Saumar,   195. 

Satyrus,   180. 

Savoy,  190. 

Schaffhausen,   185. 

Scholastics,   Christian,    158. 

Schwerin,   198. 

Scylla,  7S,  146. 

Sechelles,  8. 

Sedan,  Protestant  College  of,  187. 

Selymbria,  Herodicus  of,   181. 

Seneca,  18,  91. 

Sensationalists,   170. 

Shaftsbury,      Anthony      Ashley 
Cooper,  3d  Earl  of,   192,  193. 


<i 


Sheldon,  Gilbert,  Archbishop  of 

Canterbury,   184. 
Sicca,   Venerea,   188. 
Scdobre,  5. 

"Singularites  physiologiques,"  178. 

Smith,  G.,  205. 

Socrates,  64,  135. 

Sophocles,  40,  III. 
Spectacle  de  la  nature,"  14,  86, 
178. 

Spinoza,  Baruch,  52,   124. 

Stahl,    George    Ernst,    66,    67,    68, 
136.  137,  i39»  200. 

Stalbridge,    197. 

Steele,  Sir  Richard,  24,  96. 

Steigner  de  Wittighofen,  22,  94. 

Stenon,   Nicolas,  5^,    129,    198. 

Sloughton,   191. 

"Surdus    Loquens,"    by    Amman, 
.  -^185. 

Sweden,   185. 

Swift,  Jonathan,   185. 

Switzerland,  20,  94,   185,  197. 

Sydenham,  Thomas,   5. 

"Sylva  Sylvarum,"  by  Bacon,  5^, 
»29,  197,  207. 

"Systeme  d'Epicure,"  by  La  Met- 
trie,  205. 

"Systeme  de  la  nature,"  by  Hol- 
bach,  173,  180,  183,  189,  193, 
I94»   196,   I99»  ^02,  206. 

Taurisano,   192. 

Temple,  Sir  William,  jo,  101,  185, 

"The  History  of  Polyps,"  by 
Trembley,  102;  j^^  "Memoires 
pour  servir  a  I'histoire  d'un 
genre  de  polype  d'eau  douce." 

"The  Natural  History  of  the  Soul," 
by  La  Mettrie,  6,  10 1,  102,  140, 
151-161 ;  see  "L'histoire  naturelle 
de  I'ame." 

"Theoria  medica  vera,"  by  Stahl, 
200. 

"The  Politics  of  Physicians,"  by 
La  Mettrie,  7. 

"The  Riddle  of  the  Universe,"  by 
Haeckel,    184,    185. 

Thomas,   E.  C,   207. 

Timon,    187. 

Tindal,  Matthew,  19a. 


Tirconnel,  Milord,  9. 

Toland,   John,    166,    168-170,    192, 

194,  202,  204,  206. 
Torricelli,  Evangelista,  id,  88,  179. 
Toulouse,  192. 
"Traite    de    la    divinite    de    notre 

Seigneur  Jesus  Christ,"  by  Aba- 
die,   191. 
"Traite  de  la  grandeur  en  general," 

by  Lamy,   195. 
"Traite  de  la  mechanique  de  I'equi- 

libre,  des  solides  et  des  liqueurs," 

by  Lamy,  195. 
"Traite  de  la  mechanique  des  ani- 

maux,"  by  Perrault,  68,  138. 
"Traite  de  la  verite  de  la  religion 

chretienne,"  by  Abadie,  190. 
"Traite  de  I'education  des  filles," 

by  Fenelon,    190. 
"Traite  des  animaux,"  by  Gondii- 

lac,  171,  172,  188,  194,  19s,  206. 
"Traite   des  sensations,"  by   Con- 

dillac,   170,   171,   180,   187,  206. 
"Treatise  on  Man,"  by  Helvetius, 

172,    187,    189,    207;     see    "De 

I'homme." 
Trembley,    Abraham,    50,    55,    102, 

125,  186,   193. 
Tufts,  J.  H.  207. 
Tulpius,   Nicolas  Dirx,  62. 
"Two   Hundred,"   Council   of  the, 

at  Geneva,  186. 

Upminster,   191. 
University  of  Leyden,  201. 

^''andenberg,  201. 

Van  Helmont,  Jan  Baptista,  22,  95, 

182. 
Vanini,  Lucilio,  5^ff.,  124,  192. 
Vaucanson,    Jacques    de,    70,    140, 

203. 
Veitch,   John,   205,   206. 
Vergil,  68,    138,   195. 
Verulam,    Bacon  of,  S7t    1^9;   see 

Francis  Bacon. 
Vincennes,   191. 
Voltaire,    Francois    Marie   Adouet 

de,  //,  62,   132,  182. 
Voorhout,  201. 

Westgraafdak,   190. 


216 


MAN  A  MACHINE. 


Westminster  Abbey,  184- 
White  Hall.  94. 
William  of  Orange,   185. 
Willis,  Thomas,  27,  68,  98,  99,  138, 
184,   ao2. 


Wiltshire,   184. 
Windelband,   W.,    193,   207. 
Wlttighofen,    Steigner    de,    «,  94. 
WolflF,   Christian,  17,  90. 
Worcester,  191. 


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